Today was the first date on Friends of the Earth’s ‘Trojan Treaty’ tour – a European tour of a giant Trojan horse to raise awareness of the threats posed by the secret EU-US trade talks.
The first stop on the tour was Copenhagen. Friends of the Earth Denmark/NOAH inflated the eight metre high Trojan Horse in the city centre to draw attention to the hidden dangers of the EU-US deal (known as TTIP or the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).
These dangers include secret corporate courts that could fine governments for introducing laws to protect health, the environment or citizens’ rights, increased use of genetically modified crops in Europe, and more fracking, shale gas and other dirty energy.
Friends of the Earth Denmark/NOAH is running a ‘10 things you should know about the EU-US trade talks‘ campaign. The 10 things include:
- the deal would jeopardise the ‘precautionary principle’ – a vital pillar of EU laws to protect people
- the Trojan treaty has already limited action to prevent climate change and measures to restrict the use of unconventional dirty fuels, and is likely to lead to more fracking in the US and Europe.
Nanna Clifforth from Friends of the Earth Denmark/NOAH, said: “Many of the people we spoke to were surprised that they had not heard about TTIP and shocked about what it actually means. We have to stop this Trojan horse trade deal from destroying our environment, health and rights that we have struggled for decades to protect. The trade agreement risks putting genetically modified food on our plates, and increasing the use of fracking and other forms of dirty energy. It will give big business the power to sue our governments in secret corporate courts when new protections for citizens get in the way of profit. We would be crazy to open the door to this trade deal.”
The giant Trojan Horse will be on display in Copenhagen again on September 10 and 11.
Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth Europe said: “If agreed, this trade deal between Europe and the US will affect every single citizen in Europe. Real people power can prevent irreversible damage being done by this Trojan treaty. Our Trojan Horse tour is about standing up for citizens and our right to decide our own laws and putting people and our planet before big business profits.”
Other stops on the tour will include Germany, Hungary and Belgium in 2014, and Austria, Spain, Lituania and Estonia in 2015.
The tour starts as news has emerged of how the Trojan treaty could open the door to genetically modified (GM) food. Documents analysed by Friends of the Earth Europe show that European countries are under increasing pressure from business groups to open their borders to GMO imports of as part of the negotiations.
You can follow news from the tour online at: https://storify.com/foeeurope/trojan-horse-treaty
