A petition against the TTIP trade deal between Europe and the US, which has been signed by more than three million people, was handed to the European Commission in Brussels today.
Exactly one year after it was launched, the self-organised European Citizens Initiative against the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), has smashed the one million signatures required for an official European Citizens Initiative to be considered by decision-makers. It also surpasses the necessary minimum number of signatures per country.
The petition is supported by Friends of the Earth Europe and over 500 European organisations.
Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe, said:
“The EU-US negotiations and the EU-Canada agreement both pose serious threats to our democracy, citizens’ protections and the environment, jeopardising small-scale quality farming, food standards, and our right and ability to build sustainable communities.
“By signing this petition, an unprecedented three million people from countries across Europe have made it clear that they reject these dangerous Trojan horse treaties which benefit big corporations at the expense of people.”
The handover comes at the beginning of 10 days of international actions (10-17 October) against harmful trade and investment deals. Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe are expected to take to join protests against deals that threaten our democratic rights, food sovereignty, jobs and the environment, ahead of the next round of EU-US negotiations, which is due to start on October 19 in Miami, USA.
Magda Stoczkiewicz continued:
“As the talks between the EU and the US falter, it is high time for relevant decision-makers across Europe to take stock and seriously respond to citizens’ opposition by stopping the EU-US negotiations and rejecting the EU-Canada deal.”
