TTIP Information

Summary leaflet for KONP activists on our position on TTIP and our demands:

KONP is seriously concerned that the EU-US negotiations of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would lead to health and social services being permanently provided on a market basis across the EU, including in the UK.

The Investor-State Dispute Procedure (ISDS) in TTIP would allow disputes about investments and profits to be settled by an undemocratic panel of international corporate lawyers. If a commercial body felt aggrieved at winning too few contracts or that its future profits were threatened by actions of national governments, it could sue them. This would be an insurmountable barrier to any UK government and Parliament overturning settlements which damaged the interests of UK health and social services.

Thus the TTIP Treaty would mean that any future UK government wishing to reverse the marketisation if the NHS (extended already by the Health and Social Care Act 2012) would not be able to do so if the NHS and the ISDS remain within the treaty.

KONP is also concerned that harmonisation of regulations between the EU and the US would undercut current standards of regulations on eg food labelling, pesticides and chemicals, pharmaceuticals and health products. The assessment of new health technologies and drugs would be similarly threatened. Regulations would also undermine labour rights, entrenching for example low pay and zero hours contracts. Medical and health professional training and qualificiations may be adversely affected also.

Therefore we demand:   …as in full position paper.