Dear members of the European Parliament,  

As civil society organisations from the UK and the EU, we want to express our concerns regarding the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement which is currently provisionally applied and is to be ratified by the European Parliament at the end of April.

We are observing the ratification process with concern and scepticism. We believe it is being rushed through without sufficient public and, above all, parliamentary debate. In particular, the UK Parliament had insufficient time to properly scrutinise the deal and was not properly involved in negotiations. It is therefore even more important that the European Parliament resists the pressure to ratify within the short, two-month time-frame. The deal needs significant improvement and the Parliament must be able to play a part in this. A clear opportunity to improve the deal and increase the role of both parliaments is the negotiation of the financial services chapter which is yet to be agreed: corporate lobbying threatens to undermine public interest, making it essential that elected representatives are fully engaged.

Like many members of the Parliaments in the EU and the UK, we are also concerned about the lack of democratic control within the agreement. In particular, the UK government has outlined no role for its own parliament in the deal. Similarly, the EU-Commission is still hesitant to give the European Parliament a stronger voice: In a “living agreement” such as the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, it is crucial to make sure that Parliaments – i.e the European Parliament and the House of Commons – have a strong role and exercise democratic control over the evolvement of the agreement.

For that purpose, the EU-Commission and the UK-government should make sure that the role of Parliaments on both sides is strengthened with respect to the decisions of the Partnership Council (PC) – which is allowed to form new committees and can also adapt the trade and cooperation agreement itself. The European Parliament and the House of Commons should be able to make their own proposals in respect of both committees and changes to the deal. They should also be involved in all initiatives of the Partnership Council or other specialised committees within the agreement.  

Ahead of the ratification, we call on the European Parliament to increase pressure for future EU-UK trade relations to remain under democratic control by Parliaments on both sides of the channel.

Signatories

AitecFrance
Allianz gerechtes HandelnAustria
Amis de la Terre FranceFrance
Anders HandelnAustria
Another Europe Is Possible UK
Attac AustriaAustria
ATTAC ESPAÑAEspaña
Attac GermanyGermany
Attac LiègeBelgium
Berliner WassertischGermany
Campaña No a los Tratados de Comercio e InversiónSpan
Center for Encounter and Active NonviolenceAustria
Compassion in World FarmingInternational
Confédération paysanneFrance
Corporate Europe ObservatoryEurope
Deutscher Naturschutzring (DNR)Germany
Ecologistas en AcciónSpain
European AlternativesEurope wide (including offices in UK, France, Italy, Germany)
FairwatchItalia
FNVNetherlands
Forum Umwelt und EntwicklungGermany
Friends of the Earth England, Wales & Northern IrelandEngland, Wales & Northern Ireland
Friends of the Earth EuropeBelgium
Global Justice NowUK
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy EuropeInternational
KULU-Women and DevelopmentDanmark
LobbyControlGermany
Mehr Demokratie e.V.Germany
Naturefriends Greece
NaturFreunde DeutschlandsDeutschland
NaturFreunde e.V.Germany
Netzwerk Gerechter WelthandelGermany
OMAL-Paz con DignidadEspaña
Platform Aarde Boer ConsumentThe Netherlands
PowerShift e.V.Deutschland
Reseau Roosevelt-IDFfrance
Solidaridad Internacional AndaluciaEspaña
Stop TTIP/CETA Italia CampaignItalia
SumOfUsUnited Kingdom
Trade Justice MovementUnited Kingdom
Transnational InstituteNetherlands
TROCA- Plataforma por um Comércio Internacional JustoPortugal
Védegylet EgyesületHungary
War on WantUnited Kingdom