Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow has been in Germany this week to raise our concerns about the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Her trip has included a panel debate with German chancellor Angela Merkel on CETA and corporate globalization.
While in Germany, Barlow was also interviewed by Lena Guntenhöner for a feature article in Cicero, a German-language monthly magazine focusing on politics and culture. The magazine has a circulation of 83,527 readers and its target audience is German intellectuals looking for a wider range of views.
In the interview, Barlow says, “Many North Americans are increasingly concerned [about CETA]. These are the first contracts worldwide, affecting regional and local interests. Health care, infrastructure, education, social services – all of which will be made available to competition. Thus, the local authorities are deprived of the opportunity to support their agriculture and other economic activities. The second concern is about the increasing privatization of water that can not be undone again when TTIP or CETA apply. The third problem is the investment protection agreement. North American companies are able to decide on laws in Europe and vice versa.”
She also notes, “I am not against trade agreements. But the investment protection must, of course, be taken out of the text. I do not like the control over local decision-making. Just as we’re also against the lowering of standards, which is in line with the company. Since much is wrong in CETA and TTIP. If I had to formulate the new treaty text, I would put other principles underlying and do not represent the people, the companies at the center. We need, in many ways even no trade agreements because we have already largely free trade between our countries.”
And in response to the question “do you think your resistance to CETA and TTIP will succeed?”, Barlow replies, “CETA, but certainly TTIP are far from complete. The agreement with Canada has yet to be ratified by the European Union and by the governments of individual EU countries. There are concerns in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, United Kingdom. We hope that they will not sign. I want to say to my European friends, ‘We have walked on this wrong path. You should not make the same mistake.’ The more people learn about these things, the more they know what they shouldn’t be approved. Incidentally, this is not a question of political attitude, whether left or right, this is a question of democracy.”
The complete Cicero interview with Barlow can be read in German here.
We will also share the interviews Barlow did in Germany with the New York Times, taz.de and Zeit Online when they become available.
For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to defeat CETA, please click here.
Further reading
Barlow tells Merkel ‘free trade’ only serves the interests of billionaires (April 2015 blog)
