Sant says TTIP agreement should increase competitivity for SMEs

MEP Alfred Sant said that he hoped the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) would help boost competitivity of small and medium enterprises throughout the EU, and that this move would bridge the economic gap between the EU and the United States.

Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Sant sais that it is much more likely that the greatest beneficiaires of the TTIP would be the largest multinationals on either side of the Atlantic.

 Sant added that he had voted in favour of the TTIP resolution on the understanding that care will be taken to ensure that the outcome of negotiations will not serve to further increase the economic divergence that is happening between different regions of the European Union and the eurozone.

“If TTIP serves to further erode the competitive position of small and medium enterprises in different parts of the Union, such divergence could grow,” Sant said.

“Claims have been made in favour of TTIP that it would promote greater trading opportunities for small and medium enterprises. Such arguments are however backed by flimsy evidence,” he added.

He said it is therefore equally important that European negotiators ensure that private investors are not enabled under TTIP to access arbitration and legal decision that circumvent national and European legal jurisdictions, while having the power to reverse or compensate for national policy decisions taken by governments in the national interest. ‘”My vote in favour is also conditioned by a belief that this point too is firmly covered in the terms that will continue to be set for the TTIP negotiating mandate,” Sant said.