The ferocity of German opposition to TTIP has caught American officials by surprise. Above, protesters are seen at a march in Berlin sponsored by the German Pirate Party.
“The negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – the TTIP – are causing the European Milk Board (EMB) great concern. “The agreement is a severe threat to the EU – economically, ecologically and socially”, is how Romuald Schaber, President of the EMB, summarises the position of the European milk producers. He adds: “We therefore call for the negotiations to cease immediately”. Open season must not be declared on healthy, safe and sustainable food. And that is exactly what would be done if it were negotiated under the TTIP!
The fear for agriculture is that a substantial part of production will be relocated outside of the EU, and domestic production will then be concentrated on just a few locations. Another problematical impact of the TTIP would be unfair competition created by the feared lowering of product and safety standards. The proportion of foodstuffs harmful to health finding their way onto our supermarket shelves would also rocket. Consumer confidence in dairy and meat products would be lost.
The strong protests from all sectors of society demonstrate that concerns about the TTIP are justified. Alone the fact that the negotiations are being conducted in camera is unacceptable. There has to be total transparency and democratic involvement when positions are adopted with such agreements.
Green light naively given to TTIP negotiations
In a resolution passed a year ago the European Parliament naively gave the go-ahead to negotiations between the EU and the USA. Here is the Parliament’s decision: www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do
A large majority of the MEPs – 460 out of 593 – voted in favour. “So the European Parliament bears considerable responsibility for the current TTIP negotiations that are giving rise to so much public protest”, says Schaber.
Go to http://www.votewatch.eu/en/eu-trade-and-investment-agreement-negotiations-with-the-us-motion-for-resolution-vote-resolution-as-.html for information on how individual MEPs voted on the free trade agreement. The MEPs themselves are not involved in the negotiations, though. “We at the EMB urge our fellow citizens to carry on exerting pressure on our politicians to retract the initiative on such agreements. As representatives of the citizens of the EU they must ensure that there are no changes for the worse for people in the EU”, Schaber says.
Source: European Milk Board
