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Articles by Linda Kaucher

Linda is a researcher on international trade issues particularly surrounding the EU.

Articles by

Linda Kaucher

‘Investor protection’ in trade deals: why can’t multinational corporations take out insurance rather than have taxpayers underwrite them?

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First some background: the Investor-state Dispute Settlement, or ISDS (new name – Investment Court System, or ICS) is a mechanism whereby corporations can sue governments that introduce legislation that they claim reduces their potential to make profit

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Could you be part of a team working to challenge pro-corporate bias in UK trade deals?

Can you offer your IT skills to help build a website to challenge the pro-corporate bias in UK trade deals?

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Website help needed: with Brexit, the UK will be heading into international ‘trade’ deals, which are likely to be as much about establishing corporate rights and diminishing democracy as the EU/US TTIP – a deal that is now on the back-burner.

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Post-Brexit trade deals explained: how they will hand more power to multinational corporations – at our expense

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With Brexit the main aim seems to be to have trade agreements with as many countries as possible and as soon as possible. Little attention is paid (none?) to the content or purpose of those post-Brexit trade deals – and for whose benefit they would be.

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The Trump administration is going to attack us if we try to restrict the imports of US genetically-modified food in any way

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Linda Kaucher of Stop TTIP UK recently alerted us to the fact that the US government is determined to go into battle with any country that tries to restrict imports of its genetically-modified food.

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TTIP, TISA, CETA, TPP: acronyms abound when it comes to trade deals

What’s the current situation as regards TTIP, TPP, CETA, TiSA, and what’s the future for trade deals?

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It’s been a very confusing time for TTIP and other pro-corporate trade deals. There has been huge public opposition to them, often based around the fact that they would allow corporations to sue elected governments if they introduce policies that threaten their profits

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My meeting with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and corporate representatives, and the rules they want to impose on us

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At the end of April, I went to a Trade Commission ‘civil society dialogue’ meeting Brussels in which Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malmstrom was seeking input on how to push forward the WTO globalisation agenda via the mechanism of the EU.

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zombie-isds

Artists against TTIP, and how the new ICS differs from ISDS (spoiler – not much)

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‘Corporate interests have got to stop coming first’ – well said, Juliet Stevenson. A group of artists including actors Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott and Juliet Stevenson and designer Vivienne Westwood are fronting a campaign (artistsagainstttip.org) to raise public awareness of the trade deal TTIP

Read more about Artists against TTIP, and how the new ICS differs from ISDS (spoiler – not much)

deregulation-act

How TTIP fits perfectly with the Deregulation Act, which can overrule all other laws if they affect growth or corporate interests

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The Deregulation Bill, proposed by Tory privatiser Oliver Letwin, slipped into law at the end of the last Parliament. It can change all other law, according to criteria of ‘growth’ i.e. business interests. It fits perfectly with the EU’s deregulatory agenda, and that of TTIP and the other new ‘trade’ agreements, which have largely come

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which

‘Why?’ does consumer organisation ‘Which?’ support TTIP? (and what you can do about it)

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Although the UK consumer organisation ‘Which?’ expresses some concerns about TTIP (the US/EU free trade agreement)  the organisation’s main message is that TTIP is likely to be good for consumers as it may possibly mean some lower prices.

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