TTIP - Hidden News

I recently got an email from the campaigning organisation SumOfUs about an event that I cannot find reported in the British main stream press.

Basically in early February German judges dealt a blow to EU-US free trade agreement talks after declaring a proposed arbitration court illegal. I googled this and found this article .

 'The European Commission last September proposed setting up an investment tribunal court that would allow firms to challenge government decisions as part of its larger Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

Critics says the new court, which is intended to replace a much loathed investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) system, will pressure governments into clawing back consumer protection rights and environmental standards in favour of corporate interest.

Earlier this week, the German Association of Magistrates, a Berlin-based judicial umbrella organisation, said it "sees neither a legal basis nor a need for such a court".'

I googled some more and found an article on theecologist.org .'The proposed new court would: have no legal basis; supplant the sovereignty of member states; and usurp the role of national courts.'

The TTIP talks, which have been largely held in secret since 2013, aim to remove non-tariff barriers to trade. The 12th round of talks will be held in Brussels on 22 February.

More of us need to wake up to what is going on behind closed doors. As this blog has said before, we must use social media to spread awareness as major newspaper players see TTIP as a good thing. TTIP will affect all of us adversely.