A new report (pdf) shows how transatlantic regulatory cooperation under EU-US trade deal (TTIP) will allow bureaucrats and big business to attack the public interest. Regulatory cooperation under the proposed TTIP will strengthen corporate lobbyists’ hand in attacking public interest legislation, including alcohol policy-making for public health, and curb the power of elected politicians according to a new report by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl.
“Dangerous Regulatory Duet: How transatlantic regulatory cooperation under TTIP will allow bureaucrats and big business to attack the public interest” by Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl challenges European Commission claims that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently under negotiation will not result in lower standards and highlights examples that show how regulatory cooperation has already put corporations in the policymaking driving seat and undermined democratic decision-making.
From curbing environmental protection rules, to helping financial conglomerates escape scrutiny; from sidestepping data privacy legislation, to delaying rules on animal testing, the case studies in the report show that corporate lobbyists have already made much use of regulatory cooperation to subvert public interest law-making and advance the corporate agenda in Europe and the United States.
The examples highlighted to demonstrate how regulatory cooperation has already facilitated big business priorities over the public interest are:
- The scaling back of EU ambition on dealing with dangerous waste from electronics;
- Insurance giant AIG escaping supervision in the lead up to the financial crash;
- US companies escaping accountability under the Safe Harbour agreement and sidestepping data protection rules;
- Delayed legislation on animal testing, ozone depleting substances and aviation emissions.
The chapter on regulatory cooperation on TTIP seeks to align existing and future EU and US standards, restricting the ability of elected representatives to introduce measures and standards in the public interest.
The report examines the origins and impacts of TTIP’s proposals for regulatory cooperation and shows that the process has been dominated by big business right from the start. The examples highlighted in the study are the weakening of EU ambition on the management of hazardous electronic waste, the lack of supervision of the insurance giant AIG in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crash, the free pass offered to US companies on the Safe Harbour agreement that allowed them to ignore rules on the protection of personal data, and delayed or weakened proposals on animal testing, ozone-depleting substances, and aviation emissions.
