Do people want TTIP? Nope.(http://goo.gl/FD145h)
Do people want pesticides? Nope. (https://goo.gl/AQNdZv)
So what is the problem?
So what is the problem?
My concern is that regulation can not advance because it would brake the treaty by losing the unification of standards.
The EU can not agree with Washington either, because it is not responsible in most cases. My understanding is, that the EU and the US are organized in the direct opposite way: In the US, Washington is responsible for the military and so on while every state has its own laws for protecting the environment or license plates and stuff like this. The EU tries to agree on standards for these things and has very limited rights in topics like foreign policies.
And I would hate to lose in a secret court against Phillip Morris.
That's (sadly) (possibly) not true. I thought it would be scandalous if Europeans didn't want TTIP and they just ignored the people and continued negotiating. But then I found this chart [1] and in almost every country the majority is for a trade agreement. I don't know if the numbers are wrong, if people are uninformed or if they just don't care, but if the numbers are correct then it all is just democratic, the majority wins, whether I or you like it or not.
[1] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/01/29/is-europe-on...
Would any elected official dare ask the same about the legislative process? Isn't a trade agreement that sets precedent as legislation the opposite of a participatory democracy? It just makes no sense. How can they have things like TPP and TTIP and still complain about the lack of involvement in politics by ordinary folks?
And there have been numerous demonstrations against the agreement, and petitions calling to not let it pass. But they just keep pushing it.
People.