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News from the Open Meeting (12th July)

event report

The Manchester Friends of the Earth Open July heard from Heike an active member of the Stop TTIP campaign about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).Β  The current focus of the campaign is to ask MEPs if they have read the CETA documentation. How can they support a trade agreement that they have not read and understand.

Online actions to Members of European Parliament.

Global Justice Now have an email action asking people to write to their MEPs (Members of European Parliament) asking them to oppose CETA.

CETA dont worry they dont bite

“A year ago the EU and Canada finished negotiating a toxic trade deal, known as CETA, that includes a secret corporate court system that would allow big business to sue our government for things like raising the minimum wage or denying fracking applications. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have already admitted that these corporate courts are very problematic. We need to remind them that this means they have to vote against CETA.”

The Global Justice Now action is available online.

The European Initiative against TTIP and CETA have a CETA Check website that enables you to ask your MEP about CETA.

CETA Check

CETA, the deal with Canada, might look small and innocent compared to its bigger brother TTIP, but it is not less toxic! It will impact every European citizen in one way or another, whether it be through the food consumed or the cost of hospital visits! CETA will lower hard fought-for standards, carve-out democracy and undermine the rule of law.

Why you should worry about CETA? It is at a way more advanced stage than TTIP. After the European Commission finished negotiations with Canada in February, the treaty text will soon be put forward to the 28 trade ministers in the EU-Council and, later this year, to the European Parliament (EP).

The time before these votes is vital in making sure to get out the word about the issues that you care about to the decision makers. Our governments and the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) need to learn what you think about CETA!

It’s time to check out your MEP and ask them inconvenient questions! This is what the CETA Check! is about:

 

Write to your Member of Parliament and ask them to sign Early Day Motion (EDM) 165.

That this House is concerned about the lack of parliamentary and public debate around the EU-Canada trade agreement CETA, most especially that CETA may be provisionally implemented before a debate in the House; recognises that it has still not been confirmed whether CETA is a mixed or sole competence agreement, that the EU Council in June is the last opportunity for EU governments to raise concerns about CETA and that concerns are being raised in parliaments throughout Europe on this question; and calls on the Prime Minister to oppose provisional implementation at the EU Council in June, if necessary by opposing the whole deal unless a ratification vote is guaranteed in the House before any implementation takes place.

You can find contact details for your MPs by putting your postcode into the Write to Them website and you can see if your MP has signed the EDM on the Houses of Parliament website.

You can contact the Manchester Stop TTIP via the Facebook page. Meetings are every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at the Green Fish Resource Centre, 46-50 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LE.

To keep up to date with the latest information from Friends of the Earth on TTIP, follow our campaigner Sam @SamuelMarcLowe or join our Land, Food and Water Facebook page.

 

The meeting also had updates on current and future campaigns.

 

 

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