Letter sent to INTA coordinators on 24 August 2016
See the letter as PDF
24 August 2016
Dear
Mr. Bernd Lange, Chair of the INTA Committee
Mr. Daniel Caspary, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Lord Dartmouth, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Mr. Yannick Jadot, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Mr. David Martin, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Mrs. Emma McClarkin, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Mrs. Marietje Schaake, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Mr. Helmut Scholz, Coordinator of the INTA Committee
Subject: Call for a democratic and broad discussion of CETA in the European Parliament
We, the undersigned civil society organisations, farmers‘ and entrepreneurs‘ groups, write to you to express our demand for a broad and democratic process of discussion of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in the European Parliament before the consent vote in plenary.
CETA has been negotiated with very limited involvement of MEPs and out of sight of most national parliamentarians. The agreement, which has more than 1,500 pages, has only been available in all languages of the EU since July 2016.
CETA deals with in-depth and complex issues of trade law and industrial policy, agriculture, energy, environmental policy, intellectual property protection, public services and many more aspects. The proposed new Investor Court System has never been debated by the various EP committees and would affect our legal systems at both EU and national level. The CETA deal as a whole has aroused much public controversy and is in need of re-evaluation after the UK‘s vote to leave the EU.
We are therefore surprised to learn that to date, no proposal has been made or decision has been taken by INTA to involve other relevant EP committees with responsibility for the aforementioned policy issues of relevance to CETA in order to provide further analysis to INTA. This in effect means that only the INTA committee will discuss the CETA text before the final consent vote in plenary.
This is in our view an unacceptable and undemocratic process. Before the whole EP can take an informed decision on this 1,500 page agreement, we consider it an absolute necessity that all committees of the EP dealing with relevant issues that are part of the CETA agreement have an in-depth discussion on these issues and subsequently offer their opinion for full consideration by INTA members. We also consider it vital that the impacts of CETA on the fulfilment of human rights in Europe and in particular womens’ rights and gender equality are assessed.
We therefore demand that:
the members of the INTA committee, as the responsible committee, invite all EP committees dealing with issues covered by CETA to provide their opinion to INTA – in particular AGRI, ENVI, LIBE, JURI, DEV, ITRE, ECON, EMPL, IMCO, TRAN, REGI, CULT, AFCO, FEMM, DROI; and that
the EP postpones the vote to consent to the agreement accordingly so the committees have sufficient time to do so.
The European Parliament as the only EU institution directly elected by the European people has a duty to guarantee a broad and democratic process and discussion before the final vote on the CETA agreement is taken in the plenary.
Yours sincerely,
ACDESA, Spain
AITEC, France
AK EUROPA, Austria
Alter Summit, Europe-Belgium
Amigos de la Tierra, Spain
Asociación Integrando, Spain
Associació LA DEFENSA de consumidors i usuaris de Balears, Spain
Attac Austria , Austria
Attac Germany, Germany
Attac Spain , Spain
Beyond GM, United Kingdom
Biodynamiske Forbrugere, Denmark
Both ENDS, The Netherlands
Campact, Germany
Campagna StopTTIP Italia, Italy
Campaña NoalTTIP, Spain
CIEL, Switzerland
COAG, Spain
Collectif Roosevelt, France
Confédération paysanne, France
De-clic.ro, Romania
Ecologistas en Acción Andalucía, Spain
Education International , international
ELA, Basque Country, Spain
ENTREPUEBLOS/ENTREPOBLES/ENTREPOBOS/HERRIARTE, Spain
European Milk Board (EMB), Belgium
European Network against Health Commercialization, Europe-Belgium
FACUA-Consumidores en Acción, Spain
Fairwatch, Italy
FÍS NUA, Ireland
Fondation Nicolas Hulot, France
Food & Water Europe, Belgium/EU
Forebyggelses- og Patientrådet, Denmark
Friends of the Earth Ireland, Ireland
Friends of the Earth Europe, Europe
Friends of the Landless – Finland, Finland
GLOBAL 2000 – Friends of the Earth Austria, Austria
Global Justice Now, United Kingdom
Green Foundation Ireland, Ireland
Green Institute, Greece
Health and Trade Network , Belgium
Huelva en Marcha Contra el TTIP, Spain
INFACT Canada, Canada
Initiativ Liewensufank, Luxemburg
INTERBEV, France
Intersindical Valenciana, Valencia, Spain
Iuridicum Remedium, z. s., Czech Republic
Keep Ireland Fracking Free, Ireland
Kinobarco, Belgium
Klimaat -en vredesactiegroep Pimpampoentje, Belgium
KMU gegen TTIP Austria, Austria
Les Amis de la Terre, France
Lewisham People Before Profit, United Kingdom
Lewisham StopTTIP, United Kingdom
Links Ecologisch Forum – Forum Gauche Ecologie, Belgium
Love Leitrim, Ireland
M.O.V.E.R Parla, Spain
Mid Devon Green Party, United Kingdom
Milieudefensie, The Netherlands
Mouvement Ecologique asbl, FoE Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Naturefriends Greece, Greece
Oplysningsforbundet May Day, Denmark
Ouvaton cooopérative, France
People’s Movement – Gluaiseacht an Phobail, Ireland
Platform Health & Solidarity, Belgium
PowerShift-Verein für eine ökologisch-solidarische Energie & Weltwirtschaft e.V., Germany
Sindicato Ferroviario de Aragón, Spain
Stop Tafta Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Stop-TTIP, Danmark, Denmark
StopTTIP UK, United Kingdom
SUATEA, Asturies, Spain
SumOfUs, international
The Ecological Council, Denmark
The Environmental Pillar, Ireland
Transnational Institute (TNI), The Netherlands
Trasversales, Spain
TTIP Network Finland, Finland
TTIP Stoppen Plattform, Austria
TTIP Stoppen Plattform Salzburg, Austria
Umweltinstitut München e.V., Germany
UnternehmensGrün e.V., Germany
USTEA, Spain
War on Want, United Kingdom
WeMove.EU, Europe
Xnet, Spain
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