Secret negotiations give Big Pharma a unique chance to push its agenda – The European Union is currently negotiating a trade agreement with the United States, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Like many contemporary trade agreements, the TTIP is expected to have little to do with tariffs, the traditional focus of trade agreements. Instead, the US and the EU want to address non-tariff regulatory measures affecting EU-US trade, including setting standards and legal frameworks for technical regulations, intellectual property rights, and investment protection measures.
The analysis of the 5 most worrying proposals of the pharmaceutical industry’s wish list for the EU-US trade agreement reveals a real threat to European public health systems and democracy. A report by the Commons Network and civil society partners shows that the pharmaceutical industry’s wish list for the TTIP is detrimental for public health, will increase the cost of medicines and undermines democratic processes.
Full response paper: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): A Civil Society Response to the Big Pharma wish list
Sophie Bloemen
Coordinator
The Commons Network
Originally published on 24th March 2014 in The Commons Network
