News
BackThe almost four-month public consultation of the European Commission on the Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) within the scope of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) came to a close on 13.07.2014. AK EUROPA, the European Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation ÖGB and Friends of the Earth Europe had developed an online tool, which was also to enable/make it easier for individuals to participate in the consultation. Well over 23,000 people made use of this opportunity.
Clear No to Investor-state dispute settlement
Right from the start of the negotiations on TTIP, the AK had made it clear that if firmly rejected the ISDS. A participation in the public consultation on the ISDS was therefore a matter of course. However, the way the EU Commission had gone about launching the consultation left no doubt that its only purpose was to act as a smoke screen. This highly questionable approach of the EU Commission in terms of democracy formed the basis for the joint campaign of AK EUROPA, the European Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation ÖGB and Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE),
It had been the common goal to develop an online tool, which would provide users with more information on joint answers and positions and enable them to participate in the debate with a few simple mouse clicks. The joint website www.no2isds.eu was launched on 17.6.2014 in German, English and French. Within only a short time, the website recorded over 5,000 participants; hence the decision was made to provide the facility also in Spanish and Hungarian.
Well over 23,000 participations at www.no2isds.eu
We learned from well informed sources that the Commission had only expected 200 people to participate – at the end of last week their number had already exceeded over 100,000. It is worth mentioning that a considerable proportion had participated via our website www.no2isds.eu! Using our tool, exactly 23,647 people had taken part by the end of the consultation. Most participants came from Austria and the Netherlands (about 28 % each) as well as Spain, the UK, France and Hungary. Overall, people from 29 countries have used our tool.
Both our tool and the participation in general are a great political success for labour representatives, NGOs and civil society.
It will be interesting to see how the Commission will interpret the result and how it will deal with this clear rejection of the ISDS and intransparent negotiations.
More information:
AK and ÖGB contribution on the consultation
www.no2isds.eu
Answers for the consultation of AK EUROPA, the European Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation ÖGB and FoEE
Right from the start of the negotiations on TTIP, the AK had made it clear that if firmly rejected the ISDS. A participation in the public consultation on the ISDS was therefore a matter of course. However, the way the EU Commission had gone about launching the consultation left no doubt that its only purpose was to act as a smoke screen. This highly questionable approach of the EU Commission in terms of democracy formed the basis for the joint campaign of AK EUROPA, the European Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation ÖGB and Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE),
It had been the common goal to develop an online tool, which would provide users with more information on joint answers and positions and enable them to participate in the debate with a few simple mouse clicks. The joint website www.no2isds.eu was launched on 17.6.2014 in German, English and French. Within only a short time, the website recorded over 5,000 participants; hence the decision was made to provide the facility also in Spanish and Hungarian.
Well over 23,000 participations at www.no2isds.eu
We learned from well informed sources that the Commission had only expected 200 people to participate – at the end of last week their number had already exceeded over 100,000. It is worth mentioning that a considerable proportion had participated via our website www.no2isds.eu! Using our tool, exactly 23,647 people had taken part by the end of the consultation. Most participants came from Austria and the Netherlands (about 28 % each) as well as Spain, the UK, France and Hungary. Overall, people from 29 countries have used our tool.
Both our tool and the participation in general are a great political success for labour representatives, NGOs and civil society.
It will be interesting to see how the Commission will interpret the result and how it will deal with this clear rejection of the ISDS and intransparent negotiations.
More information:
AK and ÖGB contribution on the consultation
www.no2isds.eu
Answers for the consultation of AK EUROPA, the European Office of the Austrian Trade Union Federation ÖGB and FoEE