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News from the movements

NFUniversity: Colonial roots of modern free trade agreements
This talk will explore the colonial origins of modern international trade. Geopolitics, power relations, and corporate interests have shaped trade rules for over 500 years before it reached its current form.
New Pacific trade deal carries few benefits for the UK
Given the breadth of the policy areas that CPTPP accession will impact upon, how can UK membership have been subject to so little public debate? The answer is that the structures via which trade deals are negotiated and ratified are opaque and undemocratic.
Over 200 European organisations urge immediate suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement amidst Gaza crisis
About 200 European civil society groups, presented a petition to the EU Commission, the EU Council, and the European Parliament, calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
Sign the petition to stop investors like Clive Palmer from suing our government for billions over climate change policies
Some international trade agreements allow foreign investors to sue the Australian government if a change in law or policy reduces their profits, even if the change protects public health or the environment.
Open letter: Suspending trade agreements and negotiations in response to the ICJ ruling on Gaza
UK groups call on the UK government to suspend trade privileges, agreements and negotiations with Israel.
50,000 people say another world is possible
Together with GRAIN, Local Futures organized the aforementioned workshop ‘Resisting Free Trade Agreements in South Asia’, which brought together activists from South Asian countries to confront the massive proliferation of free trade agreements
Ecuador’s "shock doctrine" referendum on ISDS
The Ecuadorian President is using the cover of internal conflict to bring investor-state dispute settlement back to Ecuador, in what a former Constitutional Court member calls a "democratic disaster."
Klesch Group’s legal paradox
Oil Refiner Klesch sues EU, Germany and Denmark over windfall profit tax while making record profits due to Ukraine invasion.
Trade Agreement CETA threatens small and medium-scale livestock farms in Italy: ARI
Associazione Rurale Italiana highlighted the deep damage that CETA causes to small and medium-scale livestock farms in Italy; the risks of further economic (and therefore decision-making) reinforcement of a single industrial group on the entire dairy sector.
EU breaks deadlock on the ECT, announces exit
Today marks a significant turning point as the Belgian EU Presidency brokered a deal with the European Commission and member states on the withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty.
Free Trade Agreements are Failed Trade Agreements. An alternative is now urgent and necessary
La Via Campesina’s Statement and Open call for Endorsement
How people power forced the UK to leave the Energy Charter Treaty
On 22 February 2024 the UK announced it will leave the climate-wrecking Energy Charter Treaty.
Billion-dollar exposure: Investor-state dispute settlement in Mozambique’s fossil fuel sector
Mozambique faces a substantial economic risk due to its exposure to investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims by foreign investors in its coal, oil, and gas sectors. The investment protections in the country’s international investment agreements and contracts, combined with ISDS, expose Mozambique to multi-billion-dollar financial liabilities.
Suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement!
In light of the deaths and suffering endured by the Palestinian people, a number of civil society organisations came together to draft a letter to European Union decision makers seeking the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
New patent rules in India-UK trade agreement will prioritise pharmaceutical profit over public health
The “TRIPS-Plus” provisions in the India-UK Agreement are a dangerous attempt to increase the power of pharmaceutical companies by placing profits before public health.
"We call upon Members of European Parliament to vote against the EU-Kenya EPA"
In an open letter signed by over thirty organisations from Kenya and the EU, civil society groups call on MEPs to vote against the agreement.
ECVC demands from Place du Luxembourg, Brussels: End free trade agreements and ensure fair prices for farmers
Hundreds of farmers from European Coordination Via Campesina have assembled with their tractors in Place du Luxembourg, Brussels, alongside more than 30 civil society organisations to call for an end to the EU-Mercosur deal and other free trade agreements.
The time is right to finally drop the EU-Mercosur deal
Friends of the Earth Europe, Eurogroup for Animals and the European Trade Justice Coalition (ETJC) share European farmers’ frustration over having to compete with imported products exempt from the EU environmental, labour and animal welfare standards.
International Chamber of Commerce former arbitrator says ISDS has “lost battle of public opinion” and “legitimacy”
To maintain the system, he proposes that business should shift away from ISDS in state-to state trade and investment agreements, and instead move to ISDS in contracts between individual investors and states.
Interim analysis of JSI E-commerce Chairs’ text 15 January 2024, INF/ECOM/85
The 15 January 2024 chair’s text (INF/ECOM/85) for the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on electronic commerce is to be discussed in a round from 30 January to 2 February 2024.