Why this is important

Our governments could become too afraid to protect your rights at work, your privacy or even your health if corporations are given extended powers to sue governments in exclusive tribunals. Corporations and investors would be able to resort to these extra-judicial tribunals when they believe public laws affect their expected profiteering.

That is precisely what the European Union and its Member States want to put into various treaties, including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the United States (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA).

Everything about these treaties has been scandalous. They have been negotiated behind closed doors.

European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström is well aware that people like us don’t like the idea of extended powers for corporations and investors. So she’s put some make-up on these tribunals and is arguing that they are now more people-friendly. That’s not true.

Already €30 billion of European taxpayers' money have been channeled to businesses through these exclusive tribunals. If the Commission does not hear citizens’ concerns it will get much worse. Even the European Association of Judges and the UN expert on democratic international order have complained about this and the proposal could well be illegal under EU law.

Why should businesses have the right to exclusive tribunals where they can sue our democracies for unprecedented amounts of money? We citizens go to domestic public courts to resolve our grievances. Profiteering companies must do the same.

Further information can be found on our Special Tribunals Factsheet.