A Wolf In Sheeps Clothing Documentary: TTIP: Might is Right

The proposed free trade agreement between the US and Europe (TTIP)
causes concern about the European right to self-determination. The most
controversial part of TTIP is ISDS: investor-state dispute settlement.
ISDS will make it possible for companies to sue governments that damage
their investments. But is this arbitrage system where a few investment
lawyers decide over billions of taxpayers money a protection of our
business interests, or a threat to our democracy?
(El acuerdo de libre comercio propuesto entre los EE.UU. y Europa (TTIP)
causa preocupación por el derecho europeo a la libre determinación. La parte más controvertida de TTIP es ISDS: solución de controversias inversionista-Estado. ISDS harán posible que las empresas demanden a los gobiernos que dañan sus inversiones. Pero es este sistema de arbitraje, donde unos abogados de inversión
deciden sobre miles de millones de dinero de los contribuyentes una
protección de nuestros intereses comerciales, o una amenaza para nuestra
democracia? )

On Saturday,
October 10, tens of thousands of European citizens took to the streets,
and more than 2.5 million signatures were offered to the European
Commission. The source of this concern and protest is the free trade
agreement TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) between
the United States and the EU, which would create the world’s largest
free-trade zone. According to the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade
Lilianne Ploumen, TTIP could be realized as soon as 2016; the
negotiations are well under way. If the EU ratifies the trade agreement,
critics fear that the scales will tilt toward North-American standards
and values with regard to (food) safety, workers’ and consumer rights.
And that when it comes to important collective achievements and
protection of its citizens, Europe will give up its right to
self-determination.

The part of the trade agreement that’s
questioned the most is ISDS, or investor-state dispute settlement, which
can be used by companies to dispute a country’s laws and rules, if a
company feels unfairly treated. This will enable multinationals to
circumvent democratic decisions and existing national jurisdiction. In
order to understand the potential consequences of this, VPRO Backlight
traveled to Canada, which became one of the most sued countries in the
world after it entered into a trade agreement with the US. American
companies now summon the Canadian government to appear before an
arbitration tribunal if they feel that Canadian rules aren't in
compliance with the free trade agreement Nafta. Despite democratic
decisions against fracking under Canada's most important river, the
Saint Lawrence, the Canadian government was sued for millions of dollars
by the oil and shale gas company Lone Pine.

Could this happen in
the Netherlands as well? In spite of resistance, the Dutch Minister of
Economic Affairs Henk Kamp (VVD) doesn’t rule out the possibility of
future fracking in the Netherlands. VPRO Backlight probed the opinions
at an information meeting organized by the Dutch Oil and Gas Company in
Saaksum, Groningen. The locals there seem more and more convinced that
fossil fuels should stay where they are: underground. But then no profit
would be made from them anymore. The question is if this could result
in ISDS claims in the future. Or should we welcome ISDS? Because it’s
also crucial for the position of the Netherlands as a world leader in
legal and financial services. It will protect the tens of billions of
Dutch foreign investments.

British Korean economist Ha-Joon Chang
wonders what free trade really means in this day and age. Because there
has long been a largely free movement of goods between the US and EU,
with few tariff walls. So whose interest will the controversial TTIP and
ISDS serve then? And in the service of whom or what is the law, when it
comes to international investment arbitration? Isn't in the end, might
right?

With: Steve Verheul (Canadian negotiator for the trade
agreement between Canada and the EU), Gus van Harten (Canadian lawyer
and ISDS expert), Nikos Lavranos (former negotiator for the Netherlands,
currently ISDS investment consultant) and Ha-Joon