Marias, an independent member of the European Parliament, said that the secret TTIP documents recently made public by Greenpeace had substantiated the criticism of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade agreement between the US and the European Union expressed by some members of the European Parliament.
“After Greenpeace shed light on the secret TTIP documents people realized what TTIP is really all about, that it will destroy European agriculture, will bring in genetically modified plants, will let US multinationals rule supreme in Europe by shutting down local enterprises,” Notis Marias said.
He added that the proposed deal ignored the people’s labor rights, threatened the environment and allowed multinational corporations to go to court and demand material compensation from member —states.
Notis Marias said that he was sure that Barack Obama’s plans to wrap up the TTIP talks while he is still President were bound to fall flat.
“We are optimistic about our ability to organize a major movement against TTIP and prevent it happening. I believe that proponents of this deal will find it very hard pushing it through, at least before the French and German elections are over. This will give our STOP TTIP campaign time to better organize and make sure the deal is never signed,” he emphasized.
The TTIP trade deal aims to deregulate trade between the United States and the European Union, which together comprise 60 percent of global production.
The secretive deal has sparked widespread concern that it will lower environmental, health, safety, and workers’ rights standards, as well as enable the extra-judicial settlement of disputes in circumvention of national sovereignty.
