Concerns over TTIP

Global Justice Calderdale is the local group of the national organisation Global Justice Now. One of the issues we are currently very concerned about is TTIP, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the potential impacts it will have locally and globally. With this in mind, we have proposed that Calderdale Council debate and pass a motion to express their concerns and call for an impact assessment of this legislation. This letter was sent to Tim Swift regarding the matter: As I am sure you are aware the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is currently in negotiation between EU and US governments and is one of David Cameron’s pet projects; he even promised to put “rocket boosters” behind the negotiations. It is supposed to bring £10 billion of growth to the UK by 2027 and create millions of jobs. However, analysis by a number of academics has shown that these claims are unlikely to be reflected in reality. The economic benefits of TTIP are highly uncertain, while the costs could be enormous. TTIP will inevitably have huge impacts on the powers and policies of Calderdale Council in many ways. These could include decisions regarding planning, and taking action to mitigate climate change. To take a local example, the decision of Lancashire County Council to deny planning permission for fracking area would be harder to make under TTIP, because of the pressure to ‘harmonise’ energy regulations. The provision of local public services and procurement could also be affected. Current EU rules allow for environmental and social considerations in awarding contracts – as Calderdale exercises through the Calderdale Sustainable Procurement Policy, designed to facilitate the involvement of small businesses and charities. This sort of policy might not be possible under TTIP because the European Commission, keen to access US local markets by getting rid of “Buy America” schemes across the Atlantic, has said it wants TTIP to open local procurement to greater competition. This means that procurement