On October 11, 2014, tens of thousands of people and hundreds of organisations in 22 countries are organising actions to reclaim democracy, and stop the negotiations on three far-reaching trade agreements: the EU-US deal (TTIP*), the EU-Canada deal (CETA*) and the trade in services deal (TiSA*).
Actions, marches, meetings and public stands will take place in France (+Réunion), Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Ireland, Portugal, Malta, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Luxemburg,Finnland, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republik, Switzerland and Norway in over 1100 places across Europe.
This decentralised European Day of Actionis being organised by an unprecedented alliance of civil society groups and individuals, social movements, trade unions, rights defenders, farmers and grassroots activist groups.
We are determined to put the environment and people's rights before corporate interests, which is what these agreements are meant to serve.
In many places, the actions to stop TTIP, CETA and TiSA will converge with the global day of action against fracking (‘Global Frackdown’).
Democracy will not be traded away!
For an overview of protests across Europe, see
<link http: www.stop-ttip-ceta-tisa.eu moz-txt-link-freetext>
For a list of supporting groups, see
<link http: www.stop-ttip-ceta-tisa.eu en group-page supporting-groups-2 moz-txt-link-freetext>
www.stop-ttip-ceta-tisa.eu/en/group-page/supporting-groups-2/
European coordination press contact persons:
Lucile Falgueyrac (French, English), AITEC, Paris/France, +491796116453, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>lucile@echanges-partenariats.org
Alexis Passadakis, (German, English), Seattle to Brussels Network, Cologne/Germany, +491702684445, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>Alexis.Passadakis@power-shift.de
National press contact person:
Austria
Madeleine Drescher (German, English), Attac Austria, Austrian Coalition
"TTIP stoppen", Vienna/Austria, +43 676 520 28 10, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>madeleine.drescher@attac.at
France
Lucile Falgueyrac (French, English), AITEC, Paris/France, +491796116453, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>lucile@echanges-partenariats.org
Belgium
Michel Cermak (French, English), CNCD-11.11.11, Brussels/Belgium, +32 472 45 22 73, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>Michel.Cermak@cncd.be
Italy
Monica DiSisto (Italien, English), FairWatch, Milan/Italy, +393358426752, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>moni.disisto@iol.it
Alberto Zoratti (Italian, English) Fairwatch, +39 349 6766540, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>azoratti@yahoo.it
Germany
Roland Süss (German), Attac Germany, Heidelberg/Germany: +49 175 2725 893, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>suess@attac.de
Spain
Tom Kucharz (Spanish, English) Ecologistas en Accion +34 619 94 90 53, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>agroecologia@ecologistasenaccion.org
Alberto Martinez (Spanish, English) Attac Spain, Madrid/Spain, +34 670 719 477, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>albertomshc@yahoo.es
Greece
Kostas Foteinakis (Greek, English) Naturefriends Greece, Grrek coalition STOP TTIP CETA Greece, +30 6932 638523, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>xpolis@gmail.com
Sweden
Ellie Cijvat (Swedish, English) Friends of the Earth Sweden, Stockholm/Sweden, +46 73 778 2242, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>ellie.cijvat@jordensvanner.se
UK
Tim Flitcroft (English) Occupy London, London/UK, +447446826703, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>timactivist@gmail.com
Slovenia
Andrej Gnezda (Slovenian), Ljubljana/Slovenia Umanoterra, +386 40 360 890, <link moz-txt-link-abbreviated>andrej@umanotera.org
More Information:
The three upcoming trade deals TTIP CETA and TiSA gravely threaten our democracy, the environment, health rights, food sovereignty, jobs, wages, public services and digital rights among other basic rights in Europe. Negotiations are being carried out in secret, while corporate lobbies increasingly influence them.
One very controversial aspect of the deals is the investor-state dispute settlement system (ISDS). This will allow corporations investing abroad to sue foreign governments when they take actions - such as regulatory measures to protect public health or the environment - that affect their expected profits. Another is ‘regulatory cooperation’ which will drive standards protecting people and the environment on both sides of the Atlantic down to a minimum common denominator - a race to the bottom - in order to satisfy industry.
Civil society across Europe is fighting back and will reject these deals. We have alternatives to this corporate-driven trade model, which put peoples' rights, democracy and the environment first.
* TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - EU/US), CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement - EU-Canada), TiSA (Trade in Services Agreement)