Progressive Caucus: Press release on the event «CETA, TTIP: two sides of the same coin »
Progressive Members of the European Parliament come together to unravel CETA
The Progressive Caucus* will organise its first public event “CETA, TTIP: two sides of the same coin?” on Tuesday 6th of September in the European Parliament, Brussels, and will host European academics political figures and activists to start unravelling CETA.
Many citizens are rightfully concerned about the trade and investment agreements between the EU and the US (TTIP) and Canada (CETA). They radically undermine our democracy, go against our commitments for climate and environment. The claimed economic benefits - growth and jobs - do not correspond with reality. Harmonizing regulations on both sides of the Atlantic will trigger a dirty race to the bottom, mainly on behalf of big business. While TTIP seems likely to be buried, the EU Commission and national governments seem ready to push the provisional application of CETA without prior consent of national parliaments.
Unravelling CETA** is a new European Campaign organized by progressive MEPs of different political groups in the European Parliament which aims to open the discussion of the secretly negotiated agreements and inform the European peoples.
Democracy, the public good and fair trade are threatened in the interest of multinational corporations: our model of society is put into question. Pascal Lamy (former Director-General of the World Trade organization), Jeronim Capaldo, (Research Fellow at Tufts University), Penny Clarke (General Secretary of the European Federation of Public Services) and Cécile Toubeau (Manager Better Trade and Regulation from the NGO Transport and Environment) will be our guests on 6th of September. The debate will be focusing on two questions: What are the future challenges for new generation of free trade agreements? And what’s in CETA?
*The Progressive Caucus is a space of dialogue based on confidence-building and open debate. It aims at analysing differences and building bridges between progressive allies in the European Parliament and across Europe. It has been established by progressive MEPs of different political groups and is open to everyone in the community of the European Parliament standing for solidarity, democracy, social justice and sustainability.
** See the website of the campaign Unravelling CETA http://www.unravellingceta.eu/ and the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/unravellingCETA/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
The event is organised by:
Guillaume Balas (France, MEP, Parti socialiste, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament), Sergio Cofferati (Italy, MEP, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament), Fabio De Masi (Germany, MEP, DIE LINKE, European United Left - Nordic Green Left), Yannick Jadot (France, MEP, Europe Ecologie les Verts, Greens/European Free Alliance), Eva Joly (France, MEP, Europe Ecologie les Verts, Greens/European Free Alliance), Stelios Kouloglou (Greece, MEP, Syriza, European United Left - Nordic Green Left), Curzio Maltese (Italy, MEP, European United Left - Nordic Green Left), Emmanuel Maurel (France, MEP, Socialist Party, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament), Dimitrios Papadimoulis (Greece, MEP, Syriza, European United Left - Nordic Green Left), Ernest Urtasun (Spain, MEP, Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds, Greens/European Free Alliance).
Press contact: Marie Geredakis, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +33 6 20090467
