Is the EU its own worst enemy in trade and investment agreements?

This week, the latest round of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations are underway in New York. More than three years into negotiations of TTIP, the European Union and the United States have hit a wall. Some are blaming this on the demagogic demands of activists. Others say it is a result of … Read More.

2015 Highlights: Top 10 Accomplishments

Your energy and advocacy sparked a global momentum shift over the past year, and we are on the cusp of true, transformative change. On all fronts, you have defended your right to a healthy planet. With your support, you help CIEL… Advance Climate Justice For three years, we’ve highlighted the growing legal and financial risks … Read More.

European Parliament Takes a Stand to Protect REACH

On July 8, 2015, the European Parliament (EP) passed a resolution calling for REACH and other chemical laws to be excluded from the scope of the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The European Parliament calls on the EU Commission “to recognise that where the EU and the US have very different rules, there … Read More.

Proposed Amendment to “Fast Track” Threatens to Derail US Climate Policy

A proposed new provision in the US Customs Bill has potentially severe implications for climate action both in the United States and internationally. The proposed language would amend the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act (TPA), better known as “fast track,” by including a US negotiating objective “to ensure that trade agreements do not require changes … Read More.

Where’s your seat at the table?

Sure, your local American drug store may sell very European-sounding makeup, but that is where the similarity ends. The laws that determine which ingredients are allowed are very different: the European Union bans 1300 potentially-hazardous chemicals vs. a mere 11 banned under United States law. Toxic freedom! Cosmetics Europe, which represents over 4000 individual cosmetics … Read More.

Lowest Common Denominator

US-EU trade agreement threatens to reduce environmental standards in favor of looser pesticide regulations Industry lobbyists are pushing proposals to weaken pesticide regulations in the EU and US under the proposed Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) Agreement.  The ongoing TTIP negotiations between the EU and the US aims primarily to minimize regulatory differences between … Read More.

EU holds public consultations on TTIP investment chapter

Following public outcry over EU-US trade negotiations, the EU is holding three month public consultations on one of several controversial issues, Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS. Human rights, including the right to a healthy environment, are threatened by the possible inclusion of ISDS in the new free trade agreement being negotiated between the US and … Read More.

Setting the record straight on TTIP? Yes, let’s.

By Baskut Tuncak and Vito Buonsante Two weeks ago, at the start of the fourth round of “trade” negotiations between the EU and the US (officially the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement, or TTIP), the Center for International Environmental Law and ClientEarth issued a detailed critique of a document submitted to TTIP negotiators by … Read More.

Join the Thunderclap!

We are launching an exciting new campaign calling on negotiators not to undermine progress on safer chemicals in the EU-US trade agreement. “Thunderclap” is an exciting new crowd-sourcing platform that allows people to sign up to be part of a social media surge… if enough people sign up before the deadline.  It’s a way to … Read More.

Chemical Lobby proposes to reinvent and duplicate OECD Chemicals Program

A leaked joint proposal by US and EU chemical lobby groups, the ACC and CEFIC respectively, released during the latest round of negotiations for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) shows that ACC and Cefic aim to slow and alter the pace of chemicals regulation in the EU.  None of the ideas in this … Read More.

The truth about the EU’s proposal on regulatory coherence

**This blog post is the second in a series discussing the chilling effects TTIP will likely have on laws to better protect people and the environment from toxic chemicals in both the United States and European Union. The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is not a conventional trade agreement. TTIP is, at its heart, … Read More.

The Trans-Atlantic Regulatory Agreement (aka “TTIP”)

**This blog post is the first in a series discussing the chilling effects TTIP will likely have on laws to better protect people and the environment from toxic chemicals in both the United States and European Union. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is not a conventional trade agreement.  TTIP is a regulatory agreement … Read More.

TSCA overview at US House of Representatives highlights problems

On June 13th 2013, the Environment and Economy subcommittee in the US House of Representatives held a hearing to discuss the 1976 U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The House hearing was motivated by a recent bi-partisan bill in the Senate by Senator Vitter (R-LA) and the late Senator Lautenber (D-NJ). Deeply flawed and under … Read More.