MEPs were today prevented from voting on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), after the vote was controversially postponed at the last minute.
More than 200 amendments to the report were proposed, and for this reason Martin Schulz, president of the European parliament, called for it to be sent back to the trade committee for further consideration. Greens argue that huge public opposition to TTIP was a major influence on the decision to delay the vote.
London’s Green MEP Jean Lambert (pictured above, left) commented: ‘I am really shocked. I have been in this Parliament for years and cannot remember such a thing happening before, although it might have been tried. Greens voted to maintain the debate – the Tories, amongst others, voted to postpone it.
“Are the Commission and national governments running scared, finally aware of the depth of feeling over this proposed Treaty? After all, there are now over 2 million signatures collected by a European Citizen’s Initiative which is heavily critical.”
In a letter to the Guardian, the Green Party’s MEPs wrote of their particular concern in the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which potentially would allow corporations to sue governments over any legislation or actions that threaten their profits: “We do not believe corporations should have the right to challenge democratic decisions taken in the public interest which serve to safeguard our health, environment, social and labour standards. This is why Greens tabled an amendment calling explicitly for the exclusion of ISDS from TTIP.”