From the Financial Timesi:
“The Ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU would be an excellent opportunity for the EU to reverse one of its bigger recent errors in trade policy. It should ditch the whole idea of having rules on investment, or at least rules allowing companies to sue a government directly, in FTAs. Such “investor-state” provisions have attracted intense opposition, not just from the Walloons but also from anti-corporate campaigners.
“Removing these rules would ease the way for future deals. As they do not seem to encourage foreign direct investment, they are more trouble than they are worth. Freed from this unnecessary encumbrance, the EU would find it easier to sustain with its quiet run of closing bilateral trade pacts”.
The above refers to a court action concerning a trade deal between The EU and Singapore. Because of the very contentious right of investors to be heard by small panels of lawyers (perceived to be chosen by the plaintiffs!) in any dispute with a government (the Investor-State Dispute Settlement), every single member of the EU has to sign off on new EU trade deals. This makes the whole process cumbersome. Here is the Financial Times, the very mouthpiece of big business, say “Scrap the ISDS”. Amazing!
Anything that allows us a breather from corporate dominance and the ruthless oligarchy has to be termed Epicurean. But Brits beware! It will be back with a vengeance if and when the UK is free of the “shackles” of the EU. Everything will be done for the rich and the corporations, and, just as the American poor is being double-crossed by Trump, so will the British be cheated by the Brexit crowd. It’s just too obvious. To me, anyway.
The last thing Europe needs is an American-style litigation culture, where companies can sue government for being treated unfairly, even if there is a very dubious legal basis. Companies can already sue governments under the existing legal system. Creating another one would only mean more lawyers, more costs, and a less business-friendly climate.
You’re right that the EU hasn’t made trade deals quickly enough lately. But that’s no case for the UK to leave the Customs Union. The UK currently enjoys a better trading relationship with the EU than any country outside the Customs Union- leaving it will result in a greater barriers to trade. Not only that, but we currently enjoy trade deals with around 55 different non-EU countries as a result of Customs Union membership. Replacing those relationships outside the EU will be difficult, particularly as the UK is a smaller economy than the EU, so potential trading partners would have less of an incentive to trade with us on favourable terms.