TAFTA : Différence entre versions

De La Quadrature du Net
Aller à la navigationAller à la recherche
Ligne 19 : Ligne 19 :
 
TAFTA stands for Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and is also known as TTIP, which stands for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It is being negotiated between the European Union and the United States of America. Although it calls itself a free-trade agreement, it covers many more issues other than trade. It touches for instance on questions related to copyright, and data protection, and introduces a system of investory-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
 
TAFTA stands for Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and is also known as TTIP, which stands for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It is being negotiated between the European Union and the United States of America. Although it calls itself a free-trade agreement, it covers many more issues other than trade. It touches for instance on questions related to copyright, and data protection, and introduces a system of investory-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
  
''Time table''
+
'''Time table'''
 
*June 2014 – Round of negotiations in Washington D.C.
 
*June 2014 – Round of negotiations in Washington D.C.
 
*December 2014 – Round of negotiations in Brussels
 
*December 2014 – Round of negotiations in Brussels

Version du 25 avril 2014 à 12:32


TAFTA Logo
Must read

TAFTA stands for Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement and is also known as TTIP, which stands for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. It is being negotiated between the European Union and the United States of America. Although it calls itself a free-trade agreement, it covers many more issues other than trade. It touches for instance on questions related to copyright, and data protection, and introduces a system of investory-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

Time table

  • June 2014 – Round of negotiations in Washington D.C.
  • December 2014 – Round of negotiations in Brussels

(source: http://www.ustr.gov/ttip/round-information)

Ongoing

European Commission's public online consultation on investor protection in TAFTA/TTIP, launched 27 March 2014 open till 21 June 2014. | Articles] and other information to help you submit a reponse to the consulation.


Background

Negotiations started in July 2013, one year after ACTA was voted out by the European Parliament. Civil society had called on democratic representatives to introduce stronger protections on copyright, patents and trademarks in the EU, especially with regard to its demands in the TAFTA negotiations. Moreover, the negotiations of ACTA, and now TAFTA, are predominantely done in obscurity, seriously weaking any oversight by civil society.

There have been calls following the Snowden revelations to ensure that data protection not be negotiated in TAFTA.

It is essential that citizens make their voices heard and act to prevent that this new trade agreement undermines our fundamental freedom and a free and open Internet.


Essential Points

When ACTA was voted down by the European Parliament in July 2012 it was due to public opposition to the propositions it contained on copyright. Now TTIP/TAFTA is trying to introduce very similar if not identical propositions. Although officially copies of the text being negotiated were not released, leaks have demonstrated that articles on intellectual property are included in TTIP/TAFTA. This free-trade negotiations address not only questions of copyright however but touch on many other subjects. This is not an exhaustive list, but a list of topics and problems related to it.

  • Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). In order to make it easier for corporations to take states to court in case that they feel a contract was broken, this mechanism would give corporations more power vis-a-vis democratically elected governments.
  • Copyright questions. As stated above, TTIP/TAFTA is a kind of ACTA by the backdoor. It appears to contain many of the same clauses as ACTA (link to ACTA dossier).
  • Transparency. This is an issue in and of itself. Neither the European Commission nor the United States Trade Representative (USTR) have published official documents and it is therefore difficult for civil society actors to take positions on these negotiations.
  • Other issues such as fracking, ...

For a treasure trove of documents on TTIP/TAFTA go here:


How you can help

Whatever your skills you can participate in the development of the project by contacting us on IRC: #laquadrature, by email: contact at laquadrature.net or by participating with LQDN in other ways.

If you can afford it, financial support is of course greatly appreciated. You can make a donation to help La Quadrature fight against anti-democratic pressures.