Responding to the campaign emails she has received on the Transatlantic Trade and Investement Partnership (TTIP), Theresa Villiers, MP For Chipping Barnet, has written the following article:
A number of myths and misinformation have been circulated about the TTIP negotiation between the US and the EU. Here are some facts and figures on TTIP.
What is the TTIP negotiation?
Up to £1.6 billion of goods and services are traded between the US and Europe every day; the US is the largest export market for British goods and services outside the EU. Even so, for many years, businesses from the UK (and the rest of the EU) have found it difficult to sell certain goods and services in America because of protectionist trade barriers. The aim of the TTIP negotiation is to lift these barriers and promote trade between the US and Europe by opening up markets on either side of the Atlantic to more competition.
If an agreement is reach under TTIP, this will widen the range of products available to consumers, reduce prices, and boost jobs, growth, trade and investment. The economic benefits of a TTIP agreement could be up to £10 billion annually to the UK - the equivalent of almost £400 per household.
TTIP will not weaken regulation of food standards
Maintaining our strict regulation of food standards is crucial. TTIP will not lower these standards. The European Commission, which is negotiating TTIP, has no mandate to lower those standards. A successful agreement would make it easier for food producers from both the US and EU to export, but only if they conform to the importing side's food safety standards (including on genetically modified crops).
TTIP will not require more private provision in the health service
There is no threat to the NHS from TTIP. TTIP will not change the fact that it is up to UK government, and the devolved adminstrations, to decide how public services, including the NHS are funded and run. Access to NHS services will continue to be based on patients' needs, not ability to pay.
Local NHS commissioners are in charge of deciding who should provide services in the best interests of patients and a TTIP agreement would not change that. The EU Chief Negotiator, Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, has stated in a letter to Labour MP John Healey who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on TTIP, that:
"There is no reason to fear either for the NHS as it stands today, or for changes to the NHS in future, as a result of TTIP.”
The way the NHS and all other UK state provided services are run will remain in the hands of the elected UK government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The government's 'right to regulate' is quite clearly protected, in the EU negotiating mandate as illustrated by the inclusion of the following wording:
"[The TTIP agreement] should be without prejudice to the right of the EU and the Member States to adopt and enforce, in accordance with their respective competences, measures necessary to pursue legitimate public policy objectives such as social, environmental, security, stability of the financial system, public health and safety in a non-discriminatory manner."
If an agreement is reached under TTIP, it would not force the NHS to contract out more services, it would only mean that where services are contracted out to the private sector, companies from the US would be able to bid for the work as well as local and European ones. Nor would a TTIP agreement prevent the NHS from taking services back in house where they consider this to be appropriate. They will continue to be free to do that. If they stop a contract early, they may need to pay compensation to the provider depending on the terms of the original procurement, but that is already the case now under long established principles of contract law.
The US is a world leader in medical technologies and a TTIP agreement would help patients get access to those treatments more quickly and make these drugs more affordable for the NHS to provide to patients.
TTIP will not undermine efforts to safeguard the environment and combat climate change
The Government has said that the high environmental standards which we have in place are not up for negotiation under TTIP. The TTIP process will not hold back action on climate change. This has been made repeatedly clear by both the US and the EU. Ministers have also provided assurances that agreement will not prevent either side from introducing new environmental and low carbon legislation.
The Investor State Dispute Settlement system (ISDS)
The UK has a long history of being among the most dynamic and open economies. Foreign direct investment has been critical in revitalising many sectors in the UK, such as the car industry. Our food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and aerospace sectors have also attracted significant investment, creating many thousands of jobs over the years.
Without the high standards of protection and legal certainty that investors receive here, the UK would not have succeeded in attracting the massive amount of foreign direct investment that we have done over recent years. ISDS helps provide that legal certainty, so that investors know that investments are safe. This is not about sacrificing national sovereignty on the bonfire of economic growth, it is about giving investors the protection they need to ensure a stable and predictable business environment.
ISDS does not prevent a democratically elected sovereign government changing its mind or breaking a previous government's contractual obligations. It simply ensures that the investors are fairly compensated in such cases. ISDS is not a new concept either. The UK currently has 94 ISDS clauses in its investment treaties with other countries.
Including measures to protect investors in TTIP does not prevent governments from passing new laws and regulations, nor does it lead to laws being repealed. Investor protection already exists in over 90 bilateral investment treaties. Its purpose is to protect businesses investing abroad against discrimination and unfair treatment, not to allow companies to undermine public policymaking.
Democratic scrutiny
The EU has consulted on TTIP and it has made the negotiating mandate public. It can be accessed via the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/in-focus/ttip/
The Government is well aware that there is a strong public and Parliamentary interest in TTIP, and that is why we have made sure Parliament has been engaged in the TTIP negotiations.TTIP has been debated in Parliament twice, investigated in Select Committees and the public and Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the proposals as the negotiations carry on.