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Demand for the democratisation of EU trade agreements The criticism of the problems in terms of the content and democratic policy of TTIP, CETA, TISA and other trade and investment agreements has now almost become common practice. In contrast, proposals on how the trade policy should be changed in the future, are very seldom made. This article has the purpose of bringing into discussion demands, which will allow EU trade agreements to be democratised. In principle, the proposals made in relation to the TTIP-, CETA- and TISA negotiations are also transferrable to other international agreements that are concluded by the EU. Many of the improvements can only be implemented by making amendments to the EU contracts, others can be swiftly introduced by practical action on part of the participating institutions - in particular the EU Commission - or by interinstitutional agreements between the Council, the Commission and European Parliament. This text focuses on specific proposals for action within the framework of the EU and it does not discuss broader proposals for the democratisation of global trade policy, for example, a reform of the WTO or the relationship between bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. A Improvements without amendments to the EU agreements 1. The draft negotiating texts of all parties must be published All proposals for negotiations (be it in the form of draft agreements or draft chapters or otherwise), which the EU Commission and the negotiation partner mutually provide to each other, must be published in a timely manner. If a potential negotiation partner does not agree to this, negotiations shall not commence. The public must be kept continuously informed throughout the negotiations. There is a fundamental lack of transparency in the TTIP negotiations simply because the US refuses to release its proposals to the public. Even though there are some improvements on part of EU, not all of the proposals from the EU Commission are being published. The actual negotiations do not have to be published. 2. The publication of the mandate is compulsory The mandates for TTIP, CETA as well as the TISA have now been published, while the mandates for other agreements, for instance for the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, have not. This inconsistent transparency is completely unsatisfactory. A general rule must be created, which provides for the immediate publication of adopted mandates.

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Page 1: Demand for the democratisation of EU trade agreements · Demand for the democratisation of EU trade ... There is a fundamental lack of transparency in the TTIP ... Demand for the

DemandforthedemocratisationofEUtradeagreementsThecriticismoftheproblemsintermsofthecontentanddemocraticpolicyofTTIP,CETA,TISAandothertradeandinvestmentagreementshasnowalmostbecomecommonpractice.Incontrast,proposalsonhowthetradepolicyshouldbechangedinthefuture,areveryseldommade.Thisarticlehasthepurposeofbringingintodiscussiondemands,whichwillallowEUtradeagreementstobedemocratised.

Inprinciple,theproposalsmadeinrelationtotheTTIP-,CETA-andTISAnegotiationsarealsotransferrabletootherinternationalagreementsthatareconcludedbytheEU.ManyoftheimprovementscanonlybeimplementedbymakingamendmentstotheEUcontracts,otherscanbeswiftlyintroducedbypracticalactiononpartoftheparticipatinginstitutions-inparticulartheEUCommission-orbyinterinstitutionalagreementsbetweentheCouncil,theCommissionandEuropeanParliament.ThistextfocusesonspecificproposalsforactionwithintheframeworkoftheEUanditdoesnotdiscussbroaderproposalsforthedemocratisationofglobaltradepolicy,forexample,areformoftheWTOortherelationshipbetweenbilateralandmultilateraltradeagreements.

AImprovementswithoutamendmentstotheEUagreements1.ThedraftnegotiatingtextsofallpartiesmustbepublishedAllproposalsfornegotiations(beitintheformofdraftagreementsordraftchaptersorotherwise),whichtheEUCommissionandthenegotiationpartnermutuallyprovidetoeachother,mustbepublishedinatimelymanner.Ifapotentialnegotiationpartnerdoesnotagreetothis,negotiationsshallnotcommence.Thepublicmustbekeptcontinuouslyinformedthroughoutthenegotiations.ThereisafundamentallackoftransparencyintheTTIPnegotiationssimplybecausetheUSrefusestoreleaseitsproposalstothepublic.EventhoughtherearesomeimprovementsonpartofEU,notalloftheproposalsfromtheEUCommissionarebeingpublished.Theactualnegotiationsdonothavetobepublished.2.ThepublicationofthemandateiscompulsoryThemandatesforTTIP,CETAaswellastheTISAhavenowbeenpublished,whilethemandatesforotheragreements,forinstancefortheEU-SingaporeFreeTradeAgreement,havenot.Thisinconsistenttransparencyiscompletelyunsatisfactory.Ageneralrulemustbecreated,whichprovidesfortheimmediatepublicationofadoptedmandates.

Page 2: Demand for the democratisation of EU trade agreements · Demand for the democratisation of EU trade ... There is a fundamental lack of transparency in the TTIP ... Demand for the

3.ComprehensivereporttotheEuropeanParliamentPreviously,onlytheEUCommissionhasbeennegotiatingwiththecontractpartner.TheCouncilisintensivelyinvolvedviatheTradePolicyCommittee.BasedonthedoctrineofSeparationofPowers,itwouldnotbeappropriatefortheEuropeanParliamenttobedirectlyinvolvedinthenegotiations.However,theremustbeacomprehensiveandcontinuousreporttotheentireEuropeanParliament.4.BalancedparticipationofstakeholdersTheEUCommissionmustinvolvethestakeholdersequally,bothBEFOREthecommencementofnegotiationsandTHROUGHOUTthenegotiations.Accordingtoitsownstatement,priortothecommencementtheTTIPnegotiations,90%oftheEUCommission'sconsultationswereheldwitheconomyandindustryrepresentatives.TheCommissiononlyswitchedtoamorebalancedinvolvementoftheplayerswhenthepublicprotestagainstTTIPcouldnolongerbeignored.5.Nonon-terminablecontractsandnoverylongtermcontractsDemocraticcontrolalsomeansthereversibilityofdecisionsthathavealreadybeenmade.Thisisahugeproblemwithtradeagreementsand/ormoregenerallywithinternationalcontracts.Amendmentscanusuallyonlybemadewiththeconsentofallcontractparties.Terminationsareaggravatedbylongcontractperiods(forinvestmentcontractseffectivelyupto20years)orduetoalackofterminationclauses.Therefore,futuretradeandinvestmentagreementsshouldonlybeconcludedwithterminationclauses.Longnoticeperiodsandeffectiveprotectionmeasuresininvestmentcontracts,whichsurvivethecancellation,mustalsobeexcluded.Followingapre-definedperiod(e.g.10years),thecontractmustbeevaluated.6.NoprovisionalapplicationTheprovisionalapplicationderivesfromInternationalContractLaw(ViennaConventionontheLawofTreaties)aswellasfromtheTFEU(TreatyontheFunctioningoftheEuropeanUnion).ThismeansthatatradeagreementcanbebroughtintoforcethroughaCouncilresolution,eveniftheratificationprocessis incomplete1with regard to toCETAorTTIP, thismeanse.g. that Investor-StateDisputeSettlement(ISDS)claimscanalreadybebroughtbeforearbitrationcourts,eventhoughthedebatesanddecisionsare still pending in the national parliaments. The provisional application is undemocratic because itpresentstheparliamentsandcitizenswithafaitaccomplisandalsoincreasesthepressuretoratifytheagreement.Forinstance,Russiawasorderedtopaydamagesamountingto50billionUSdollarsasaresultof an investor claim relating to the Energy Charta Treaty, even though theRussian Parliament neverratifiedtheagreement.Therefore,theCouncilshouldgenerallyrefrainfromallowingtheprovisionalapplicationofinternationalagreements.Atimelimitmaybeconsideredtopreventadelayintheratificationofundesirablecontracts.

1ThissolelypertainstothosepartsoftheagreementthataresubjecttothesoleorjointjurisdictionoftheEU.

Page 3: Demand for the democratisation of EU trade agreements · Demand for the democratisation of EU trade ... There is a fundamental lack of transparency in the TTIP ... Demand for the

BImprovements,withamendmentstotheEUagreements.7.TheEuropeanParliament(incooperationwiththeCouncil)adoptsthemandateThenegotiationmandatesetsoutthegeneralframeworkandthedirectionoftradeagreements.Previously,theCouncilmakesthisdecisionsolelyattherecommendationoftheCommission.InfuturetheCouncilandtheEuropeanParliamentshouldmakethisdecisionsjointly,inthesamewayasitisdoneintheco-decisionprocedure.TheCouncilandtheEuropeanParliamentshouldadditionallyalsobeentitledtoinitiatenegotiationmandates.Thiswouldclearlyincreasetheparliamentarycontrolandenhancethepublicdebateduringthepre-negotiationstagesandwithregardtothepurposeandmeaningofspecificcontracts.

8.TheEuropeanParliamentcanenforcesubsequentnegotiationsComparedtotheEuropeanParliament,theUSCongresshaswiderrangeofcontroloptions.Notonlycanitsay"yes"or"no"toanegotiatedclause,itancanalsoresolveamendments(inrealitythismeanssubsequentnegotiations).SucharightshouldalsobegrantedtotheEuropeanParliament.Inordertopreventnegotiationsfrombeingpostponedasaresultofcontinuous,tactically-motivated,newproposalsforamendments,thisrightcouldbelimitedtothesingleenforcementofsubsequentnegotiations.9.DirectdemocraticcontroloftradeagreementsisenabledThecitizensmustalsobeabletodecidewhetheranagreementshouldenterintoforce.Atpresenthowever,areferendumcanonlybeheldafterthenegotiationshavebeenconcludedandtheratificationprocesshasbeencompleted.Thereshouldbesufficienttimeforthisprocess,thetextmustbetranslatedintoalloftheofficiallanguagesoftheEU.AEuropeanCitizens'Initiative,whichallowsanegotiationmandatetobeissuedorannulled,shouldbeadmissible.Additionally,considerationmightbegiventoinfluencingongoingnegotiationsbycollectingacertainnumberofsignaturesforapetitioninordertoincludeaproposalfornegotiation.

Statusasat:18.4.2016


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