County Clare is a TTIP Free Zone!

[marian farrell]

It’s official - County Clare is now Ireland’s first TTIP Free Zone!

The night of Monday 8th February was a milestone moment in our fight to stop the toxic deal TTIP. Following a campaign led by Uplift members, Clare County Council passed a motion to declare the county a TTIP Free Zone.

This victory is a huge step for our community’s campaign to stop TTIP in its tracks. And what’s more, it’s people power that made it happen. But now we need to take this national.

Imagine if every city or county council in Ireland passed the same motion?What a powerful way to grow our campaign - people taking a stand to protect their communities from the bottom up.

Upilft is a community of over 64,000 members across every county in Ireland. If a few of us in each county follow the example of Uplift members in Clare, before we know it we could have every council taking a stand against TTIP.

Would you like to be a part of a campaign to make your local area a TTIP Free Zone?

YES, I would like to help out 

NO, but I will chip in to help make it happen 

 

Monday’s victory was a result of a local people powered campaign. Here’s how it happened:

 

Uplift member John contacted a local councillor to put forward the motion to declare Clare a TTIP Free Zone at a meeting of Clare County Council. Using Uplift’s new member petition site, MyUplift.ie, a petition was started and people across Clare started to support the campaign. Uplift members heard about the campaign and called their councillors asking them to support the call. [2]

 

John wants to pass on these words of encouragement:

“We can and must stand together in this fight against TTIP. It's a great feeling to know that there are so many of us working together.”

This people powered victory has exposed the weakness of TTIP. It has showed us that by working together locally, we can stop it in it tracks. Clare County Council is Ireland's first local authority to declare itself TTIP-Free and it won’t be the last.

DECLARE CLARE A TTIP FREE ZONE

579 
of 600 signatures

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TO: CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBERS

A motion that opposes TTIP at will be tabled at a meeting of Clare County Council on Monday, 8th of February. 
Please help secure Clare County Council support for keeping Clare a TTIP free zone by signing this petition. The petition will be delivered to all Councillors in Clare before they vote on the motion.

Why is this important?

Our local businesses, environment and democracy are under threat from a trade deal currently being negotiated between the EU Commission and the USA.

The deal is called TTIP and could outlaw local authorities’ support of local businesses, allow multinational corporations to sue us if councils deny fracking permits and open up services like water, health and education to privatisation.

What’s up for grabs are the rules and regulations that force corporations to abide by standards that protect our health, our rights, our jobs, services and the environment.

These regulations for example stop corporations releasing chemicals and products into the market before they are proven to be safe.

They also make sure workers get their rights and that local communities are protected from environmental disasters.

But if TTIP goes ahead corporations will get to have a say on policies that govern our daily lives - before we or even politicians get to see them.

And if they don’t like the rules they will be able to sue governments when they make changes or bring in new policies that could potentially affect their profits.

Right now in Canada a fracking company Lone Pine Resources Inc., is suing the government for its decision to not allow fracking in Quebec. They are able to do this because of an ISDS clause in another trade deal.

In Egypt the government was sued by water company Veolia for attempting to bring in a minimum wage. Germany is being sued by Swedish energy company Vatenfall for €4.7 billion because of Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power.

TTIP also removes barriers to US companies who want to sell their products in Europe.

Right now the sale of US beef in Europe is very limited. Hormone injected beef is banned outright.

Hundreds of councils across Europe have already said they don’t want TTIP. Because of people power politicians are waking up to the threat TTIP poses and to the fact that people aren’t going to stand aside and let our democracy and rights be sold off.

 

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REASONS FOR SIGNING

• Elaine N. 8 days ago
  For democracy. This deal is fundamentally undemocratic and gives far too much power to big business. It is not in the interest of ordinary people or the environment.
   
• James K. 13 days ago
  At some point the ever increasing influence of corporations on politics and all aspects of life will have to be challenged