In the ongoing #AppleTax debacle one of the most common themes used by both Apple and the Irish government is that the ruling of the European Commission is essentially an “attack on our sovereignty”. If they truly believe that, they must also surely be unified against the ISDS courts due to be used by the TTIP and other such proposed treaties should they come into effect.
According to reports, resistance from both France and Germany could ensure the TTIP doesn’t go ahead, but still I reckon it’s vitally important that the wider public appreciates just exactly what the proposed treaty entailed because I very much doubt the multinationals corporations are going to give up and not try to force something similar through down the line.
Thanks to the latest episode of the excellent Democracy@Work podcast featuring Richard Wolff, we have discovered a series of articles by Chris Hamby on Buzzfeed which expose exactly what these so-called super-courts are all about, who comprises them, and what kind of rulings they have made in the past.
The series kicks off like this :
Imagine a private, global super court that empowers corporations to bend countries to their will.
Say a nation tries to prosecute a corrupt CEO or ban dangerous pollution. Imagine that a company could turn to this super court and sue the whole country for daring to interfere with its profits, demanding hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars as retribution.
I urge you to read on. There are four articles in total. The third one is about Sri Lanka but should still be of particular interest to Irish readers.
Inside The Global “Club” That Helps Executives Escape Their Crimes
The Secret Threat That Makes Corporations More Powerful Than Countries
How Big Banks Bled A Tiny Island Nation
How America’s Gift To Trade Treaties Can Come Back To Hammer It
Has an Irish media outlet conducted a similar investigation? A Google search of “ISDS” under the “Country : Ireland” setting produces nothing from national newspapers, if that means anything.
First Person Plural 