Online Consultation on ISDS in the TTIP: Commission’s Analysis Published

Yesterday the European Commission published its analysis of the almost 150,000 replies to its online consultation on investment protection and investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), whereby the Commission asked the public for their views on a possible approach to protecting investments and settling investment-related disputes between private investors and governments. Cecilia Malmström’s (Commissioner for Trade) comment on it cannot be clearer: “The consultation clearly shows that there is a huge scepticism against the ISDS instrument”.

The press release offers a summary of the background and the details of the report, and explains the next steps -a number of consultation meetings of the Commission with EU governments, the European Parliament, and different stakeholders, including NGOs, business, trade unions, consumer and environment organisations, to discuss investment protection and ISDS in TTIP on the basis of this report. As a first step, the consultation results will be presented to the INTA Committee of the European Parliament on 22 January. Following these consultations during the first quarter, the Commission will develop specific proposals for the TTIP negotiations.

Links to the online consultation, the Memo, and the replies of the participants are also provided there.