New Poll: Majority of French Citizens Denounce TTIP and CETA Trade Negotiations
View Poll here: http://bit.ly/28X2Obz
PARIS – Today, the corporate accountability group SumOfUs and Harris Interactive released a new poll demonstrating that a majority of French citizens oppose numerous aspects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).
- 48% of respondents thought that the two trans-Atlantic trade agreements CETA and TTIP would be bad for the French economy, with 51% saying it would be bad for employment in France, 69% saying it would be bad for food quality in France and 41% saying it would be bad for democracy in France.
- 81% said they believed that CETA and TTIP would undermine French laws or “standards” protecting health, food quality, the environment, and the climate.
- 71% said that the “private arbitration” mechanisms for conflicts between investors and states are a “bad thing”.
- 62% said that France should pull out of negotiations on various trans-Atlantic trade agreements between the European Union and Canada (CETA) and the European Union and the United States (TAFTA).
- 80% are opposed to CETA and TAFTA coming into effect without being examined and ratified by the French parliament beforehand.
View The Full Results Of The Poll Below.
The poll was released ahead of meetings at the European Union on June 28th and 29th, where the EU Commission will gauge if member states will continue TTIP negotiations.
“These trade deals spell disaster for our environment, protections for workers and consumers, and access to affordable medications. They would give big corporations all the tools they need to bully our governments and undermine critical protections and grant giant multinational corporations the right to influence our laws,and sue governments in private arbitration tribunals over lost profits. It is the people on both sides of the Atlantic who are standing to lose,” explained Nabil Berbour, a Paris-based campaigner for SumOfUs. “The results of this latest poll show that the French people strongly reject this corporate power grab masquerading as free trade deals.”
More than 52 000 in France have signed onto a petition from SumOfUs and Anti-TTIP/CETA French coalition calling on François Hollande to stop negotiations on TTIP and refuse to approve CETA.
View The Petition Here.