Tumultuous Session In European Parliament Ends In Postponement Of TTIP Debate

After a tumultuous early morning session today in Strasbourg, a slim majority of 183 (against 181) members of the European Parliament decided to postpone mere debate of the Parliament’s report on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The vote on the report prepared by Bernd Lange, head of the International Trade Committee (S&D), had already been postponed yesterday by the President of the Parliament, Martin Schulz.

The postponement announcement is here.

The report will not be binding for TTIP negotiators from the European Commission, but is seen as an indication especially with regard to the Parliament’s position on the controversial investor-state dispute settlement procedure (ISDS) that allows private companies to sue governments for their policies.

Schulz made his decision due to the large number of amendments tabled for the Lange report. § 175 of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedures enable the EP President to make that decision when “more than 50 amendments and requests for a split or separate vote have been tabled.”

While the postponement of the vote was one thing, Rebecca Harms, co-chair of the Green Party Group, told Intellectual Property Watch after the session that they consider postponement of the debate “not helpful”.

Harms said the rationale to delay from her point of view was to give especially the S&D Group the possibility to close the ranks in the controversy over ISDS. The dispute over ISDS went straight through the S&D group which had in part turned around from its earlier objection to the concept. Objections by conservative EPP group members to ISDS also have faltered.

The close margin in the vote to postpone having at least the debate (set to take a marathon four hours) illustrates how divided Parliament and even some of the Party Groups are.

A motion by one MEP to allow an ad hoc debate requested by at least one party group or 40 members according to § 153 of the Rules of Procedure was rejected without further explanation by the presiding vice-president.

Next steps in the TTIP procedure are now an attempt to compromise on some of the tabled amendments in the INTA Committee next Monday.

Anti-TTIP activist groups welcomed the postponement of the vote. In a press release, the network “Unfairhandelbar,” which is supported by alternative farmer associations, humanitarian and environmental organizations called the postponement of the vote a victory of civil society protests against TTIP and ISDS.