Latest Updates

Make no mistake: the EU?s trade policy is about the EU?s offensive corporate interests - On Friday January 27th, the European Commission (EC) released a Communication entitled "Trade, growth and Development - Tailoring trade and investment policy for those countries most in need". The Seattle to Brussels Network finds this title grossly misleading (...)

Human Rights Watch in its 2012 Report on violence against Trade Unionists in Colombia writes: "While the number of trade unionists killed every year is less today than a decade ago, it remains higher than any other country in the world: 51 trade unionists were murdered in 2008, 47 in 2009, 51 in 2010, and 26 from January to November 15, 2011, according to the National Labor School (ENS), Colombia's leading NGO monitoring labor rights". Read the part of the Report dedicated to Colombia.

Final declaration of the Week of Action against BITs and for an Alternative Investment Regime. Read or download it in English, Spanish or French, and se the lsit of the signatures up to date 6th December 2011 (...)

5 - 8 November 2011, Brussels
International investment agreements (IIAs), such as Free Trade Agreements and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), pose a threat to economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, as well as to democracy and people's sovereignty. It is time to challenge them back and push for an alternative system that makes investment an engine for sustainable development! Read or download the invitation, detailed program, banners & posters (...) - Info Package with Power Point presentations, videos and more available here

In November, France will take over the Presidency of the G8 and the G20 and will be organizing their summits in June and November 2011. But while summits pass, the economic, financial, ecological and social crises remain. The last G8 and G20 meetings (in Pittsburgh 2009 and Toronto 2010) did not bring and real answers to these crises. On the contrary, all the evidence points to them having sought above all to reconfirm the legitimacy of the actors and the mechanisms behind these crises, all while making citizens foot the bill (...)

Paris, 28 th  and 29 th  of October 2011 - The financialization of natural resources: Understanding the new dynamics and developing civil society answers to it - In recent years civil society has focused on tackling financial speculation in food commodities, as it is regarded as one of the main drivers of food price volatility that heavily impacts small producers and the poor. Similarly governments have been discussing the issue in the context of the G20 focus on food security, but with marginal and contradictory results so far. At the same time, similar attention is being paid by governments to oil and other hard commodities speculation, where prices are even more volatile and the impacts on energy dependant countries are equally severe (...)

After the mobilisations in Ottawa, parallel to the 9th round of negotiations between the EU and Canada of a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), social movements from Canda and Europe launched a joint statement: "Corporations must not make the law". Read or download the statement in English or in French.

On October 15th people from all over the world will take to the streets and squares. From America to Asia, from Africa to Europe, people are rising up to claim their rights and demand a true democracy. Now it is time for all of us to join in a global non violent protest (...)

The European Parliament approved the Resolution "New trade policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 Strategy" on September 27th, 2011, following the communication of the Commission "Trade Growth and World Affairs". Even with the usual rhetoric on issues like human rights, labour rights, climate change, agriuculture policy and energy security, the wide majority of the EP demands to the Commission to push for more "free trade". The EP also demands a revision of the EU Strategy in 2013.

On Monday 12 September the General Affairs Council approved negotiating mandates for investment protection chapters in free trade agreements with Canada, India and Singapore. European Member States refuse necessary reform, ignore the will of the European Parliament and insist that future EU investment agreements copy their bad practices. Read or download the S2B Statement and the text of the mandates.

Europe?s people are now experiencing the first structural adjustment policies which governments are imposing on their populations that until now have been imposed on peoples in other regions in particular the Global South; this with the sole interest of saving capitalism and those who benefit from it (private banks, investment groups and transnational corporations). All signs are that in the near future these antisocial policies will become more severe and extensive (...)

Two years ago, a number of trade activists and campaigners from Europe and the Global South initiated a process of working together "Towards an alternative trade mandate for the EU". After broad consultation and exchanges, this process has now reached a new stage in our struggle (...)

The online petition "No New Corporate Privileges - Change EU Investment Policy Now!" was signed by 2929 people. Also, the statement "Just EU Investment Policy now!" (available in English - Italian - French - Spanish - Dutch - German) was signed by 114 EU civil society organisations, 3 international networks and 65 non-EU organisations(full list here). Both statement and petition were sent to 736 Members of the European Parliament on 4th April. (...)

Statement by the Seattle to Brussels Network 6th April 2011: "European Parliament Resolution on international investment not strong enough to end threat to democratic governance and public interests".  Today the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the future European investment policy. This resolution comes as a response to a Communication by the Commission following the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty that has added Foreign Direct Investment to the exclusive common commercial policy of the EU (...)