Trade and Global Justice

Multilateral Investment Court: Reaction of the Greens/EFA Group

Press release

The Council has approved the Commission's mandate to negotiate the establishment of a multilateral court for the settlement of investment disputes (MIC).

Greens/EFA co-president Ska Keller comments:

"This is little more than a re-branding exercise. Re-packaging the old system of investor privileges as a "court" system does not alter the fundamental problems within. Every citizen and small enterprise has to go to a normal court when they claim their rights, it is unfair that multinational companies should get their very own justice system. The Council has only copy and pasted the provisions from the CETA agreement, which are fundamentally flawed. International investors will be privileged without having any responsibility. Granting huge corporations exclusive rights to sue Member States and trample on democracy will lead to the same outcry we saw over CETA and TTIP. We will continue to make the case for a fairer approach to global trade that puts the needs of people and the planet first.

We welcome the immediate publication of the text of the negotiation mandate. It was one of our longstanding demands and shows that pressure from civil society can lead to success."

 

 

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