Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in the (a) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement and (b) EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) apply to local authorities in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

The investment protection provisions of trade and investment agreements such as the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will typically apply to the acts of local authorities but claims under the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms of those agreements may only be brought against the UK or the EU.

The question of investment protection and ISDS provisions in TTIP is still under negotiation. The Government wants any such provisions to reflect the right of governments to act in the public interest and deter investors from making unnecessary and speculative claims.