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Certification will give US excessive leverage in the TPPA
7-May-2015 Free Malaysia Today
The Malaysian government must scrap certification from the TPPA as it allows the US president to unilaterally amend FTAs for US interests, says Charles Santiago
China ’willing’ to seek EU investment treaty
7-May-2015 China Daily
"China is willing to push forward talks for a bilateral investment treaty" with the EU, Premier Li Keqiang said, adding that it would include a "negative list" of areas off-limits to European investors.
MEPs unimpressed with Commission’s ISDS proposal
7-May-2015 EurActiv
European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström tried to convince MEPs that there are ways to keep the Investment-State Dispute Settlement in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment partnership deal. But unimpressed lawmakers failed to greet it as a full-fledged reform.
Cartoon: Trans-Pacific speculation
6-May-2015 Daily Kos
The TPP is a bad deal for everyone who isn’t a multinational corporate person, writes cartoonist Brian McFadden.
South Africa’s revocation of its bilateral investment treaties – analysis
6-May-2015 EurAsia Review
From an international policy point of view, South Africa’s denunciation of BITs is reasonable. It may even be seen as a refreshing retreat from a legal quagmire. But the domestic reality requires wider consideration.
Greece wants changes to EU-Canada trade deal to protect "feta" name
6-May-2015 Reuters
Athens will not back a multi-billion dollar trade pact between Canada and the European Union unless the deal is changed to specify that only Greece can use the term "feta" for its salty white cheese, according to a document seen by Reuters.
South Korea and Vietnam sign free trade agreement
6-May-2015 The Hankyoreh
The FTA with Vietnam is South Korea’s 15th to date, with greater levels of product liberalization than the previous FTA with the ASEAN countries (including Vietnam) that went into effect in June 2007.
Canada-EU trade deal faces more tinkering
6-May-2015 Macleans
Mission accomplished? Not quite. American negotiations with Europe may trigger more changes to CETA
$4.7 bln Lone Star case will begin next week
6-May-2015 Korea Times
V.V. Veeder, a British national, has been appointed as the presiding arbitrator for a $4.7 billion international litigation between the Korean government and Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, sources said Tuesday.
A parade of reforms: The European Commission’s latest proposal for ISDS
6-May-2015 Social Sciences Research Network
The European Commission’s most recent proposal for ISDS reflects a move away from fake reforms to something potentially more meaningful, but it is insufficient and unreliable, says legal expert Gus Van Harten.
UN calls for suspension of TTIP talks over fears of human rights abuses
6-May-2015 The Guardian
Alfred de Zayas said the UN will publish a report in August to illustrate the flaws in current plans for the TTIP.
EU’s trade chief wants special court for investor disputes
5-May-2015 Reuters
The EU’s trade chief proposed on Tuesday creating a new European court to settle disputes in international trade agreements, a step aimed at overcoming growing public resistance to a free-trade accord with the United States.
Morocco-Canada FTA – investment at the price of trade deficit
5-May-2015 L’Economiste
If Morocco signs the FTA with Canada, it will become the first African country to enter into a free trade agreement with Canada
Commission publishes updated EU textual proposal on regulatory cooperation in TTIP negotiations
5-May-2015 DG Trade
Today, the Commission published the updated EU textual proposal on regulatory cooperation, following the 9th round of negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Controversy flares over ex-KEB chief’s new role with Lone Star’s law firm
4-May-2015 Korea Herald
A former top financial official who advocated for Korea Exchange Bank’s breakaway from Lone Star has taken up a position in a law firm that represents the US buyout firm at a time when the firm is suing the Korean government for $4.6 billion in an investor-state dispute.
Assange: More leaks to come
4-May-2015 Sydney Morning Herald
WikiLeaks is planning new releases of secret documents on controversial trade negotiations and intelligence agency operations, according to the organisation’s founder, Julian Assange.
‘Hanocal may sue Korean government over sale of Hyundai Oilbank’
4-May-2015 Korea Herald
The Dutch company will file an ISDS application against the Korean government, should the authorities refuse to pay 183.5 billion won ($169.9 million) in tax refund.
Corporate power ‘exorcism’ held outside London law firm billed for TTIP lawsuits
4-May-2015 RT
A group of radical performance activists who hail from New York staged an “exorcism” of corporate power outside an international law firm in London to raise awareness about the dangers of an EU-US trade deal being brokered behind closed doors.
Stephen Harper’s Canada-EU trade deal sideswiped by Europe’s US fears: Walkom
4-May-2015 Toronto Star
Canada’s prime minister is taking credit for jobs created by a free-trade deal that may never exist.
EU FTA talks likely to resume on PM Narendra Modi push
4-May-2015 Indian Express
India and the European Union will likely resume free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations in June, with New Delhi expressing willingness to accommodate the EU’s demands for lower duties on wines, spirits and automobiles, provided Brussels relents to grant India ‘data secure nation’ status besides facilitating easier movement of skilled Indian professionals in Europe.