Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Discussion
1:30 pm
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister referred to the EU-Canada Trade Agreement, CETA. He mentioned the fact that there has not been criticism of the investor-state dispute settlement. There is an example whereby the European Union created a mechanism to reduce carbon within oil and oil-type products. The mechanism was used in an effort to improve the environmental opportunities for European countries. Yet, in those negotiations Canada put fierce pressure on the European Union with regard to the use of tar sands oil, which has levels of carbon dioxide approximately 23% higher than ordinary oil. The European Union then changed its regulation with regard to transportation fuels. Is that not an example of how these types of agreements actually change policy within jurisdictions?