Today the European Parliament rejected a resolution to seek an opinion from the European Court of Justice on the compatibility of the investment chapter in CETA with EU Treaties [1], and continued its push to fast-track the controversial trade deal. [1]
The resolution was meant to clarify whether the sections on investment protection and the resolution of investment disputes between investors and states are in line with several EU Treaties.
The European Parliament thus decided to ignore the opinion of many legal experts who have raised the issue [2].
Paul de Clerck, economic justice programme coordinator at Friends of the Earth Europe said: “The European Parliament closed its eyes, held its breath and took a dangerous plunge by approving a potentially illegal system. Ignoring the opinion of thousands of legal experts and rejecting a proposal to ask the European Court’s advice on the matter means the European Parliament is not taking its role seriously. It is steamrolling a system that only protects the interests of investors at the expense of citizens and the environment.”
NOTES
[1] On the fast-tracking process, read “MEPs’ sad games undermine the Parliament’s due rights” [2] On November the 9th 2015, the European Association of Judges issued a statement expressing their strong reservations on the new Investment Court System included in the TTIP text – now also included in CETA.Recently, more than 100 European law professors questioned whether the Investment Court System included in CETA is in line with European law.
