The first of these tweets is four years ago today. The same treaty (the EU-Canada trade deal) is down for ratification in the Dáil tomorrow, with the Greens now in government pic.twitter.com/1mSItEzq2M
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) December 14, 2020
Awkward, in fairness.
CETA?
Update:
Govt source says tomorrow’s scheduled debate and vote on the CETA trade deal is unlikely to go ahead because of concerns within the Green Party (and also being raised in some quarters of FF and FG)
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) December 14, 2020
Meanwhile…
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore TD, who is the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, said:
“With this trade deal comes a very controversial mechanism which allows companies to sue an EU member state for potential profits lost if a Government decides to change their policies or regulations.
“This will be devastating for many reasons, including in the area of health and housing, but also in in relation to the Government drafting legislation and policies to tackle climate change and biodiversity. If a company feels a Bill or policy drafted to mitigate climate change might negatively impact on their profit margin, it could technically sue the Irish Government under CETA.
“Furthermore, all of this would be settled in special tribunals held outside our own justice system in a non-transparent manner. This is hardly appropriate in an age where transparency and due diligence is a basic requirement in a democracy.
“The chilling effect of this deal could be enormous as the Government is already wary of legislating strongly for climate action for fear of being held up in court. CETA will reduce the Government’s capacity for stronger decision-making, which is what we need in our fight against climate change.
“If companies can sue the Irish Government for compensation, not only will the taxpayer be out of pocket, but our ability to mitigate climate change and protect our biodiversity will be diminished. We cannot afford for that to happen.”
Previously: The Set Menu
if government votes on the side of companies in a stuation of companies vs government. how the hell could any FFFG/Green supporter think they care about you at all?
The Greenwash party will be bought off with 2 or 3 new bicycle lanes.
Green party cannot possibly approve a mechanism which debilitates state powers. In every sense this is their only mandate for taking the seat in government. The power to effectively respond to climate concerns against existing private or corporate interests which have long been resistant to green matters is the only power that the party can declare to have gained. The rest, like tipping the balance against nurses pay etc etc is a dirty wash that so far has not tarnished the nobility of the party cause. This would put that cause in a new light for many members. Unless it really is all about cycle lanes. Come on GP dont be dix
I bet you 10€ to a charity of your choice that when it comes to a vote, that the Greenwash party will not actually vote against it.
Being Green hypocrites I expect the best they will do is hypocritically abstain.
TTIP – The proposed agreement had been criticized and opposed by some unions, charities, NGOs and environmentalists, particularly in Europe.[14][15] The Independent describes common criticisms of TTIP as “reducing the regulatory barriers to trade for big business, things like food safety law, environmental legislation, banking regulations and the sovereign powers of individual nations”,[16] or more critically as an “assault on European and US societies by transnational corporations”.[16] The Guardian noted the criticism of TTIP’s “undemocratic nature of the closed-door talks”, “influence of powerful lobbyists”, TTIP’s potential ability to “undermine the democratic authority of local government”,[17] and described it as “the most controversial trade deal the EU has ever negotiated”
CETA – Proponents of CETA emphasize that the agreement will boost trade between the EU and Canada and thus create new jobs, facilitate business operations by abolishing customs duties, goods checks, and various other levies, facilitate mutual recognition of diplomas and regulate investment disputes by creating a new system of courts.[14][15] Opponents consider that CETA would weaken European consumer rights, including high EU standards concerning food safety,[16] and criticize it as a boon only for big business and multinational corporations, while risking net-losses, unemployment, and environmental damage impacting individual citizens.[17][18][19] The deal also includes a controversial investor-state dispute settlement mechanism which makes critics fear that multinational corporations could sue national governments for billions of dollars if they thought that the government policies had a bad impact on their business.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Trade_and_Investment_Partnership
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Economic_and_Trade_Agreement
There is only 1 stance a “Green” Party could take against CETA so over to you Eamon Ryan, lets see if you have any mettle at all or if you are a complete sell out to yourself, your party colleagues and your country.
Well said Liam