On Thursday 4
June, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on an appeal taken by
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) against the European Commission for
withholding information related to the EU’s trade talks with India. The
documents in question were deemed 'sensitive' and 'confidential' when
access was requested by CEO in the public interest. The Commission was
accused of discriminating in favour of corporate lobby groups and of
violating the EU’s transparency rules. The Court has however ruled against CEO. The decision risks deepening the secrecy shrouding EU trade policy.
CEO appealed a decision on the original lawsuit that
concerned 17 documents - including meeting reports, emails and a letter
- related to the ongoing EU-India free trade negotiations. The original
lawsuit was filed by CEO in 2011. The Commission shared all of these
documents in full with corporate lobby groups such as BusinessEurope.
However, CEO only received censored versions, with allegedly sensitive
information about priorities, tactics and strategies in the negotiations
deleted. CEO contended that documents already shared with business
lobbies could not then be declared 'sensitive' or 'confidential' when a
public interest group asks for their disclosure.
Reacting to the appeal ruling, CEO trade campaigner Pia Eberhardt said:
“It’s a sad day for citizens
when the European Court of Justice effectively sanctions the
Commission's secretive collaboration with, and for, a tiny elite of
corporate lobby groups. Particularly baffling is that this ruling comes
in the context of growing public pressure against the current direction
of EU trade policy.”
Despite the ruling, the
Commission will continue to face increased public and political pressure
for its one-sided approach to the EU-US trade talks (TTIP), making it
politically impossible to carry on disregarding concerns about the
proposals, and calls for transparency and balance.
Eberhardt continued:
“The issues of privileged
access for big business and the lack of transparency have been at the
heart of the massive opposition that has confronted TTIP. Trade deals
that cater for big business needs and works against the interests of the
bulk of the population in Europe and beyond will not be accepted by
citizens.”
It all begs the question: how
long can the Commission continue its habit of granting big business
privileged access to its trade policy-making process by sharing
information that is withheld from the public?
It appears that EU trade policy
makers do not desire well-informed, meaningful public participation and
only want to cater to the needs of big business. The public must rely on
leaked documents or requests by civil organisations for information
that when it finally does arrive after months of waiting is heavily
censored
Although this is a terrible
state of affairs, it should surprise no one. The European Commission has
in recent years been little more than a captive but willing servant
of a corporate agenda. The future of hundreds of millions of people
continues to be served up to powerful corporate interests behind closed
doors.
by Colin Todhunter from here with links to more information
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