[Fsfe-ie] IP high on EU-US pre-summit agenda, Adare Co Clare
David O'Callaghan
david.ocallaghan at cs.tcd.ie
Fri Jun 25 17:10:45 CEST 2004
On Fri, 2004-06-25 at 15:20, teresahackett at eircom.net wrote:
> Mary Harney was interviewed on the RTE News at One this afternoon
> about the pre EU-US summit taking place this afternoon with the
> TransAtlantic Business Dialogue. Attendees will include Don Evans, US
> Secretary for Commerce.
>
> According to MH:
> -the agenda is around world trade, regulation, piracy, intellectual
> property;
> -it will feed into the outcome of the summit tomorrow;
> -it will agree on processes to resolve regulatory difficulties that
> hamper business;
> -counterfeiting accounts for 7% of global trade;
> -EU and US must work together on enforcement regimes;
> -important because of the high inter-dependance of the EU-US
> economices, etc.
See http://www.corporateeurope.org/tpntabd.html for the Corporate Europe
Observatory report on the TABD. Essentially it appears to be a very
high-level business lobby group for EU-US free trade, i.e. a single
transatlantic common market. It has frightening levels of access to
decision-makers in Europe and the US, considering that it has no
democratic mandate.
The proposed negotiations would imply further intensified and
accelerated downwards convergence between EU and US
policy-making and legislation. A Transatlantic divide over
environment and consumer protection already existed during the
Clinton Administration, but has deepened dramatically after Bush
moved into the White House. Corporate interests have been
granted an almost complete grip on environment and health
decision-making in Washington D.C. and this increasingly has
impacts far beyond the US borders. On behalf of US corporations,
the Bush government aggressively attacks EU limits on
genetically modified food and proposed safety regulations for
chemical products (REACH). [8] Things will only get worse if
Bush gets re-elected, while it remains to be seen how much the
situation will improve if John Kerry wins.
No matter what free trade proponents claim, convergence in EU-US
rule-making would mean a further step backwards in the quality
of European policies and regulation, already under immense
pressure due to the EU's obsession with international
competitiveness. Beyond concerns for the diminishing space for
sustainable and people-centred policies, the proposed
convergence (to be exercised in un-transparent structures
between government officials and business) is fundamentally at
odds with genuine democratic processes.
David
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