Democrat May-June 2013 (Number 135)
EU-India Free Trade Agreement
In a ruling delivered on 7 June following a lawsuit by lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg concluded that the European Commission did not violate EU rules when withholding information about the EU-India free trade talks from the public, even though it had already shared the information with corporate lobby groups. Corporate Europe Observatory warns that this decision risks deepening the secrecy around EU trade negotiations and legitimises the Commission’s practice of granting corporate lobby groups privileged access to its policy-making, at the expense of the wider public interest.
This trade agreement is an extension of the European Single Market with free movement of capital and labour. An objective is to move workers from India to Britain and pay them at Indian rates of pay plus, no doubt, a little bit more to make it attractive to move to Britain on a short term contract.
Trade unionists are following closely the introduction of the Agreement because principles of collective bargaining and jobs are at stake. This is especially so for the factories and jobs in the Midlands.
Also being put in place are trade agreements between the EU and the US and Canada. The EU-US FTA may founder because France objects to intrusion into culture including film making
See what we said in 2011 - Stop the EU/India Free Trade Agreement also known as Mode 4
See the TUC decision in 2011 - TUC opposes Mode 4
Print down the leaflet in PDF format on this issue of Mode 4 and jobs