Photo: Steven Harper and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso shaking hands on a bad deal for Europe. Photo Credit -Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press
July 26, 2014 Europe has not agreed to the EU- Canada trade deal which is a land mine of corporate legal jargon, that would destroy sovereign rights.
Firstly the details of this agreement have not been disclosed to the public fully and clearly, most people think it is a great idea.
These two happy faces seem to think they have a trade deal called the (CETA) that the European Union can accept however – hold the photo ops.
It appears the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is trying to write in some clauses that would leave European countries exposed and open to lawsuits from corporations, similar to the badly drafted TPP deal.
The European- Canada deal has traps and Germany has announced it will not sign it. Stephen Harper’s government has written in legal language that would negate Europe’s environmental and health laws, just for starters.
Germany is not buying the CETA, nor should any other European countries because it would negatively affect both Canadians and European current laws and economy.
Germany does not agree with the deal and has deeper concerns regarding the investor protection clauses as well as long term effects. The Canada deal includes arbitration that guarantees protection against independent national courts of Europe. The German Economy Minister Stephan Kapferer took a similar position of “No to the TPP agreement” which has yet to be negotiated with the United States.
The deal for Europe to sign indicates that foreign corporations would have the rights to mandate domestic policies that protect their environment, their water supply, drug patents, internet controls, air pollution and health concerns for Germany’s population.
CETA requires EU countries to sign away their rights to self-determined laws and sovereignty hidden in this deal that requires them to do so.
It would allow major corporations to sue Germany for trade regulations that protect Germany’s environment and health laws for their corporate profits.
This Canada- EU is not a trade deal, it is a corporation deal similar to the TPP that are badly received globally the USA.
The deal affects labor, environment, health, internet privacy, wages and all other laws over to corporate governance. which is in the TPP deal.
How Bad is the Deal for Canadians:
1) The CETA would ensure more European cheeses to be sold in Canada, which would negatively affect dairy farmers in Canada. They would lose revenues and jobs for Canadians. The province of Quebec, which has a thriving cheese industry and the Dairy Farmers of Canada advise they are concerned with giving Europe greater access to their Canadian markets. If this deal goes through, Canadian taxpayers would be paying for any negative effects to dairy farmers in compensation.
2) CarMakers: More European made cars would flood the Canadian market, job losses would rise. The Canadian auto makers have been struggling for 14 years and required a government bail out to survive. This deal would greatly increase the chances of another bailout, paid for by the taxpayer. With the clauses regarding corporate profits, would European car makers be able to sue Canada for lost revenues is a good question.
The Auto Industry already has an imbalance of about 12 billion dollars and there will not be any Canadian made cars going to Europe, it just won’t happen.
3) Drug companies would have longer patents on prescription drugs, which means higher drug costs. Generic Canadian drug makers would have to wait a longer time before producing cheaper drugs for Canadians especially seniors. If the deal goes through, Canadian taxpayers would be paying for any negative affects of this trade deal, by compensation given to generic drug manufacturers.
4) European Union wines and liquor could potentially and negatively affect Canada’s wine markets, by the elimination of tariffs, again a negative impact on a Canadian industry and jobs.
5) Intellectual Rights: Europeans are very concerned with negotiations of this deal, there is no disclosure of the details on how this deal would affect Canadian artists rights to copyrights and intellectual property, but it would favor big corporations. Also, this affects drug company rights again in regards to cheaper generic drugs which will make drugs more expensive.
In short it seems Harper has attempted a mini-TPP deal with Europe and it is a very bad deal that increases corporate profits but kills jobs and the economy.
Trade agreements badly negotiated such as NAFTA, CETA, can destroy the Canadian economy, the labor force and economic stability when job loss is the direct result. The trade agreements with China are just one example, where China refuses to open its markets to the USA, China made automobiles are flooding the US market which almost bankrupt the big three automakers.
Other Notes:
In 2012, Conservative PM Stephen Harper threaten Europe with a trade war if they labeled Canadian Alberta tar sands as highly polluting fossil fuel. Tar Sand oil is known to be highly corrosive to pipelines which can cause leaks. There is no scientific proof that oil obtained by bitumen extraction is safe, clean or sustainable.
Canada has pulled out of the Kyoto Agreement to eliminate green house gasses and claims tar sand oil is cleanly sustainable.
Source: The Guardian