The Alternative Trade Mandate

1. The Alternative Trade Mandate Motivation go on the offensive with a positive agenda intervene in wider discussions about new economic model/ alternative societies learn from existing alternatives unite dispersed trade justice movement Almost 50 member organisations/ supporters Key idea: “Alternative Trade Mandate” for a campaign towards the EU elections

2. But how?

3. Developing an alternative Issue specific consultations on democracy, agriculture, investment, raw materials & consumption, human rights & labour standards Additional written contributions on financial services, public procurement Then we hired Ronnie...

4. TO BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING… We want EU trade and investment policies that: • are democratically-controlled • promote a more equitable distribution of the world’s wealth • protect and promote human, social and cultural rights • protect the commons • contribute to environmental protection

5. A NEW TRADE AND INVESTMENT MANDATE MUST… • take second place to international treaties on human rights and the environment • make global corporations fully accountable • allow prioritisation of local and regional trade • respect food sovereignty / local and regional food systems • favour goods, services, public procurement —> +ve social/environmental standards • promote fair distribution of income within global value chains • allow the regulation of international flows of trade, investment, capital for this

6. THE TROUBLE IS THIS IS VERY AMBITIOUS (STRATEGICALLY) BECAUSE… • No-one else knows what all this ‘gobbledygook’ means… • Even if they do, they are struggling to deal with economic crisis at the family level – does anyone care? • Neoliberal globalisation is hegemonic (eg austerity outcomes) meaning heaven and earth will have to be moved… • It’s very hard to get people — even us! — to agree on alternatives to free trade… • The devil is in the detail…(which can get a bit boring for many)

7. ON THE PLUS SIDE HOWEVER… • The current economic crisis is an opportunity that may not be repeated. • The ‘last chance saloon’?! ARE YOU READY?!

8. HERE’S WHAT WE DID SO FAR!

9. FIRSTLY WE THOUGHT ABOUT THE CONTEXT Trade not intrinsically bad, but… The world is a mess and the status quo is taking us nowhere: • Levels of global poverty immoral and unnecessary • Inequality increasing • Emerging problems of climate change, soil fertility, freshwater • A failure of global governance The EU’s current ‘free trade’ trade and investment policy is a cause of, rather than a solution to these crises

10. …ultimately increasing inequality of wealth and power prevents change

11. Overall, there are: • NEW CHALLENGES as well as growing inequality — emerging economies, powerful transnational companies, financial crisis, growing resource constraints. • NEW BATTLELINES: Nolonger strictly N v S, but rich/corporate v poor/labour • EMERGING ALTERNATIVES Strong theoretical critiques on the neo liberal consensus, Progressive governments in south developing trade and investment policies based on mutual support and public need, Growth of direct ‘Fair Trade’ alliances

12. THEN WE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT LIST OF STRATEGIC PROBLEMS Our solutions are: • Try to construct a common agenda from the outcomes of the working groups (consistency —> proposals) • Use simplest language possible (ie no gobbledygook) • Relate everything back to experience of EU individuals re experiences and potential benefits • Move heaven and earth (obviously) • Get others to move heaven and earth too (strategy) Right now we are still at (1) and (2) – these need to be agreed before moving on (rights section still missing)

13. THEN WE THOUGHT ABOUT THE STRUCTURE The structure needs to work for ‘normal’ people We think people want: • AS INDIVIDUALS - Decent jobs, secure livelihoods and food (= Investment, financial sector, food, services, public procurement) • AS COMMUNITIES - Healthy environment, comfortable happy communities • (= Agriculture + env, resource constraints, climate change) • AS SOCIETIES – For themselves and others to be treated fairly and heard (= Labour rights + human rights)

14. WE THOUGHT ABOUT TOP LINE Not advocating complete withdrawal from global economy, some kinds of agreements on trade and investment still necessary. BUT… deals that are negotiated in a radically different way, based on radically different assumptions, eg • Do not compromise the ability of governments to manage their own economies – don’t reduce ‘policy space’ • Ensure those affected are able to understand and to influence agreements • Greater levels of transparency • Look for and build on successful examples of new approaches where they exist • Be prepared to test new approaches So, here we go…

15. INVESTING IN A BETTER FUTURE The EU must stop promoting investment as a ‘cure all’ and coercing countries into Signing BITS. It should terminate invalid investment Treaties that conflict with legal obligations to promote rights and sustainable development.

16. INSTEAD, the EU should: • introduce ‘investment cooperation agreements’ with trial partners • allow conditions for incoming investors, harness potential benefits • monitor and enforce good behaviour by investors, nationally (home and host countries) and internationally • cancel agreements if standards are not maintained by investors • allow states to stop capital flight • reverse status quo, redress power balance: facilitate governments taking TNCs to court

17. (INVESTMENT - THE SMALL PRINT)ie you won’t be tested on this bit!... • Ban investments without full impact assessments, which must be made public • Ensure clearly defined systems to include informed local communities in decision-making • Reform/replace ICSID: establish an international court for crimes committed by transnational companies • Make home country governments legally accountable for actions of companies HQ’d in their country • Require Investors to abide by national laws and meet all international human rights and environmental laws • Apply strong sanctions eg losing access to export credit mechanisms through to jailing of directors • Require investors to take out insurance to cover full costs of any linked liability • All investments should be subject to full financial transparency, including country by country reporting on taxation

18. A BANKING REVOLUTION There needs to be a banking revolution, putting finance and investment at the service of society, in the EU and elsewhere: • Banks and financial services are potentially valuable instruments for creating social goods and enhancing the environment • The EU needs to fundamentally reform its financial sector, not export it • Developing country governments must retain full control over their own economies including financial sector • Financial stability must be prioritised over profitability in all government policies

19. (A BANKING REVOLUTION - THE SMALL PRINT / IDEAS) • EU to lead on creating a new International Forum on Financial Services (IFFS), to control and direct financial services providers at the global level • IFFS rule-making must be the responsibility of financial regulators and supervisors, not trade and investment negotiators • The IFFS should establish a permanent International Tribunal on Financial Services (ITFS), to adjudicate in cases of malpractice • Robin Hood tax to curb excessive speculation (already underway)

20. CULTIVATING A NEW APPROACH TO FOOD We need to cultivate a new approach to food, producing good food for all: • Food production should be founded on the concept of ‘food sovereignty’. This means that people have the right to define and control their own local food systems • Small farmers should be respected and properly rewarded, with fair and stable prices guaranteed • Farming should be a self-sustaining process that protects biodiversity, enhances the fertility of soils, and helps prevent climate change

21. (CULTIVATING A NEW APPROACH TO FOOD - THE SMALL PRINT / IDEAS) • The EU should introduce a long term goal of only importing products we cannot grow or rear in Europe • The EU needs to become self-sufficient in products that can replace imports of animal feeds and the raw materials used to make biofuels, as quickly as possible. • Introduce supply management measures to (1) minimise food shortages (reducing the need for imports) and (2) prevent food surpluses (which will keep farm gate prices up and reduce dumping on foreign markets) • Introduce measures (eg taxation) to address over-consumption and food waste in the EU • The current EU bio-fuels directive should be replaced with other measures to reduce demand for fossil fuels • EU stored food reserves should be built up and managed, to help reduce food price volatility • The EU should promote and facilitate the use of storage measures in other countries

22. (there’s more on food than anything else…) • Tough regulation (transparency and limits) is need to curb food price speculation • Focus development aid and technical support to promote South-South and local/regional trade, especially in countries that have become dependent upon exporting agricultural products to the EU • Abolish EU tariffs on imports of processed products, including foods, to encourage the development of local food processing in exporting countries • Help exporting countries to implement high environmental and social standards for exports that cannot be produced in the EU • Investment in food and farmland in non-EU countries to be brought under new Investment Cooperation agreements • Strict rules based on food security and food sovereignty to define ‘unjustified expropriation’ • IPR rules to be reviewed; patents on life banned; and current plans on seed marketing (which will discriminate against new seed varieties developed by farmers and peasants in response to climate change) to be dropped

23. RECOGNISING THE VALUE OF SERVICES AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT • Reverse EU’s focus on privatisation of EU and non-EU public services • Public services ensure everyone has access to basic services for a dignified life, including education, health, clean water and sanitation, caring services, and local amenities. • All governments must be able to use public services and public procurement as tools to promote decent work, healthy local and low carbon economies, and a clean environment • The EU’s internal public procurement directives should support local authority decisions about the best use of public spending

24. (SERVICES AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT - THE SMALL PRINT / IDEAS) • Public services in the EU should be re-municipalised • The EU should offer public procurement negotiations on a voluntary basis and offering at least the same safeguards that are granted to all developing countries (not only Least Developed Countries) in the WTO’s Government Procurement Agreement • More inputs on specifics would be good!

25. AGRICULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: PLANTING THE SEEDS OF CHANGE • Ideal is to internalise environmental costs, but difficult in practice. Instead: • Continuous improvement in agriculture-related regulations in EU needed • Provide financial support for the additional costs of EU farmers for environmentally-friendly production methods or high production costs • Short-term: promote same standards amongst trading partners through border tax adjustments and collaborative bilateral processes like FLEGT (illegal timber), ring fence finance – SEE FLEGT SLIDE • Longer-term: Lead on development of an intergovernmental forum on sustainable food production standards

26. RESPECT RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS EU must set clear targets to reduce its levels of resource consumption, using trade and investment policy as a tool towards this. • Stop pushing for ban on export restrictions by other countries • EU to drop plans for transitioning to ‘bio-economy’ based on biomass • Remove tariff escalation on processed goods, to support processing in exporting countries and S-S trade. • Discriminate in favour of goods produced under exemplary conditions • Select a combination of FLEGT (carrot) and BTA/distance tax (stick), with any finance being ring-fenced and channelled back.

27. (more on resources…) • Investors in raw materials to be controlled and made accountable • Strengthen use of licenses for exploration and exploitation, disclosure of contracts & payments made by companies, routine use of independent environmental impact assessments • Shared allocation of revenues • Permanent restrictions/bans on certain raw materials, eg tar sands • Regulate within the EU to prevent excessive speculation on commodity markets • Regulate to control the power and size of transnationals operating in the raw materials sector through anti-trust laws

28. THE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPERATIVE As well as UNFCCC, the EU should act unilaterally to: • Double EU goal to mandatory 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 (re 1990 levels) • Ramp up investment in low carbon technologies (20% by 2020 – 1m new jobs + €200/yr) • (Possibly) equalise using ‘border tax adjustments’ (BTAs) on high carbon imports and ring-fencing funding — although carbon debt argument. • Use FLEGT approach as a way of paying carbon debt (financial and technical support to partners) • Support and introduce new intellectual property rules that foster transfer of low-carbon technologies to developing countries, and the development of climate-friendly crops by small farmers

29. THE ‘FLEGT’ APPROACH – why is it important? FLEGT stands for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and trade — bilateral ‘Voluntary Partnership Agreements’ to stop illegal trade in timber Could offer a new approach to improving social and environmental standards around the world, in a pragmatic and step-by-step fashion, using trade policy in a positive way. FLEGT approach provides a way to increase standards in other countries, meaning you can provide your own standards without disadvantage.

30. THE ‘FLEGT’ APPROACH – why is it important? FLEGT approach solves problems PROBLEM 1: Internalise environmental costs (standard economic answer to how to proceed). If it’s a free market and if you increase your own standards your competitors will sell their goods cheaper and you’ll go bust.It’s also very hard to calculate those costs, and implement. PROBLEM 2: Get together with other countries and agree to improve standards by internalising costs in all countries at the same time. Unlikely to work, takes forever. Still hard to calculate costs.

31. THE ‘FLEGT’ APPROACH – why is it important? PROBLEM 3: Apply border tax adjustments. Hugely controversial, still hard to calculate. But could ring-fence and return finance to improve standards. FLEGT- THE ALTERNATIVE APPROACH Collaborative, bilateral country-by-country agreements. Critically, based on stake-holder consultations with affected communities. Incentive is no BTAs on timber exports. These WORK.

32. Claiming democratic control over trade & investmentpolicy making Aim is to ensure that political decisions are… • made by people themselves, or through their elected representatives • selected from a range of genuine policy alternatives • based on transparent procedures • not confined to choices that are based on the interests of elites, and • reversible and open to challenge by people through, for example, referenda.

33. Next steps… • Integrate the outputs from this meeting into a revised draft document • Take on-line for a public consultation based on key questions • Final draft developed • Final version and summary document approved and disseminated by September/Oct