The United States and European Union have been working for years at a rapprochement. This transatlantic union is the result of a fundamental change in power relations: multinationals are taking over. And we will see, the market settles not confined solely to the economic dimension.
words that deceive
Take the word "free trade": we often associate the idea of freedom, as if to create very large commercial areas favored the freedom of everyone. The reality is quite different. Indeed, a market will never arises spontaneously. It needs laws, constraints and institutions to function.
Thus, markets can not function without laws to set standards of production techniques (eg compliance of electrical equipment with electrical outlets), the necessary qualifications to carry out certain professions (we think of doctors) or establish minimum security standards. More importantly, without specific legislation, private property would have no reality (as reflected in the lives of many societies and the extent of collective forms of ownership since the beginning of mankind). Therefore, political negotiations are still needed to expand into new areas laws on private property (as is the case now with ACTA draft or
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement )
1.
For laws are enforced and respected, they require institutions, including law enforcement, as courts or police. To take the example of ACTA, one of the challenges is to strengthen controls relating to hacking, to enable customs officers to search laptops, MP3 or mobile phone to search for files downloaded illegally.
Finally, as evidenced by the creation of the European Common Market, the principle of free competition applied over a wide geographical scale allows some businesses to grow at the expense of smaller private firms.
Multinationals
Today, some corporations are so big, they compete with the United States. Some examples: Toyota has a financial strength
2 equivalent to the State of Israel, the oil company Chevron is richer than Portugal, while firms Walt-Mart, Exxon Mobile and Royal Dutch / Shell each brew more money than countries such Argentina, Iran, Greece and Denmark.
Like any organization, multinationals produce their own standards: they govern the lives of their branches and their employees, for example by imposing their personal stock phrases, smiles standardized or uniform haircuts
3.
Logically, the right of states prevails over that of private firms in Belgium, a multinational can not make children work because the law prohibits it. Where ethical and legal constraints do not exist, develop by multinationals against the logic of predation exceptional: inhumane working conditions (including children), destruction and looting of natural resources, and even resort to murder against union leaders and environmentalists
4.
The finding is clear: where the political power do not take their head, multinational corporations impose their dictates.
In our rich, traditional social-democratic states have been able to counterbalance any time to these multinationals. But things change. In presenting the company values at the heart of the company (productivity, competitiveness, profitability, ...), Neoliberalism has allowed businessmen to gain influence and increase complicity in the political world. It also allowed the mergers and acquisitions, giving birth to gigantic companies.
And if until now the company was adapting to national standards, now it is up to public standards to adapt to the needs of large enterprises. In this logic, several strategic objectives are pursued. Observe them.
What do multinationals?
A Global Market! We said the market for its existence needs standards. As states are sovereign, the world is like (for CEOs) to multiple distinct legal areas that hinder the expansive logic of the multinationals. Why they want to establish global market-friendly laws.
A stable market and secure! A market is not based solely on market laws. It also requires political stability and law enforcement agencies.
In fact, what investor would risk his assets in a volatile region, beset by wars or violence? A fortiori
when these investments totaled, such as multinationals, in millions or billions of dollars?
Similarly, union protests, environmentalists, citizens, etc.. are a danger to the expansion of commercial companies eager for maximum profitability.
therefore unify the work of police, army, customs, courts and all the forces of control "public" on a transnational scale is also a priority for multinationals.
The Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN)
To achieve these objectives and adapt the world to their demands, the multinationals have set up different strategies. In our society, this means including the formation of alliances between political elites and international business community. This collusion is through the creation of many lobby groups, which we use here one of the most emblematic: the Transatlantic Policy Network
(TPN), or Transatlantic Governance Network.
Compared to the majority of existing lobbies that are pushing
outside the sphere policy, the NPR is constituted from the outset to influence
from inside the political world.
It is characterized by the following:
it brings together politicians, businessmen and leading academics;
it meets U.S. and European elites who aim to bring together, at all levels, United States and the European Union.
From its birth in 1992, the NPR includes among its members 40 MEPs, 18 U.S. senators and CEOs representing "twenty of the largest global companies'
5. He also enjoys strong institutional support, ranging from St. Antony College, Oxford at the European Round Table of Industrialists, the Aspen Institute of Italy at the European Institute in Washington, the German Marshall Fund of the United States to European Commission. Honorary Presidents of the TPN are then the European side, Peter Sutherland (Chairman of the GATT) and the U.S. side, Ambassador Robert Strauss.
What is TPN? Create a Transatlantic Union between the U.S. and the European Union, to profoundly transform our lives, our laws and our institutions. Commercial Requirements
TPN
"The transatlantic market is the anchor of the global economy"
6. This sentence sums up the marketing strategy of TPN.
The first target set in 1994, is to create a common market and competition between the U.S. and the EU. Presented as a necessity by the TPN, the transatlantic market will allow the largest U.S. and European companies to grow further. In this way, they hope to compete with their counterparts from emerging countries, phagocytose smaller companies (merger, acquisition, subcontracting), and gain more influence over the states.
Once reached the transatlantic market, the second objective will be to extend its operating rules worldwide. Overall, European and American markets represent approximately 60% of world trade
7. TPN relies on this advantage to impose quantitative (via transatlantic governance) performance standards uniform across the globe.
Consequences Under the guise of establishing a "free market" (One word we have called misleading), it is actually strengthened at all levels of freedom for large corporations to circumscribe the freedom of everyone:
forced to work harder for less money, the worker will, increasingly, accept the conditions and working hours entirely dependent on business needs
8;
reduced to the level of emergency, public service will become commercial, social security to fade profit private insurance while abandoning its mechanisms of redistribution of wealth;
subject to compete more and more rough and uneven, SMEs suffer the pressures of transnational firms, some SMEs will disappear (acquisition or bankruptcy), others will be franchised or sub-contractors, and only a minority will benefit from the system;
d Other examples could apply to consumers, the environment, finance, culture, etc..
The influence of TPN
By 1994, this proposed transatlantic market has been defined by the TPN who wrote: "These ideas must now be injected directly policies in the arteries of the European Union over the next year. TPN members will take care of Europe "
9.
A year later, the United States and the European Union adopted the New Transatlantic Agenda. On the menu of this agenda: the creation of a free trade transatlantic! But also (another vow blown by the TPN) the creation of the Transatlantic Dialogue, in which business will act as principal adviser
10. Following
voltages USA / EU (trade disputes to WTO
11, war in Iraq ...), The project will be frozen for a while. And it was under the influence of major powers that the two TPN will revive, around 2005, negotiations on the transatlantic market. By creating common institutions such as the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) 12
, politicians have stepped up agreements to standardize trading rules, and now hope to achieve transatlantic market by 2015.
security requirements
TPN TPN requirements are not limited to economic and social regulations. They also cover all repressive institutions empowered to enforce standards
market ... If you want to create a transatlantic market, it is indeed necessary to establish police structures, criminal and judicial co-ordinate and cooperate with one continent to another. Furthermore, freedom of large companies paying the price of inequality increasingly strong control populations and anticipate the protests may be capital. Finally, access to raw materials mobilizes logical diplomatic and military nature to sustain the transatlantic market.
By 1994, the NPR proposes to create a safe space and transatlantic military. But Europe at that time had virtually no criminal jurisdiction, judicial or military. These are the states that are filled. That is why the security requirements of TPN are mainly:
to fill the European Union a legitimate sovereignty in these skill areas;
to give the EU a political role on the international scene;
to strengthen NATO's role in the transatlantic partnership.
The influence of TPN
Adopted in 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam opened the way for the creation of a secure and common criminal on a European scale. Following a series of institutions were born or grew up (Europol, CEPOL, Eurojust, Frontex
13), while many agreements have emerged. Among the logic in place, personal data collection routine is to meet people. Thus, the recent transition to biometric passports designed to encode a growing number of personal data (including fingerprints) for use by any police force European or American ....
However, to achieve an area transatlantic security, it lacked the EU a major legislative tool: legal personality and the right to conduct foreign policy on behalf of its member countries. This obstacle has been lifted since the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon (on 1 December 2009), which will allow the multiplication of transatlantic security arrangements - such as those entered into force on 1 February:
Legal Assistance provides for transatlantic the establishment of joint police teams (American and European) or the use of videoconferencing to interview under oath of witnesses and experts;
extradition transatlantic law greatly facilitates the free movement of detainees and suspects in the European Union to the United States (except Should the death penalty could be applied).
Consequences Under the guise of protecting people, it is practical at all levels to strengthen the coercive power of states and supranational structures. In 2006, the European Union has adopted a directive authorizing any Learn about our telecommunications: the people we call, for example, or the websites we visit
14. Such measures are justified by the fight against terrorism. The problem is that no objective criteria does not define what a terrorist act: only the author's intent is crucial. Thus, according to European legislation, "
unduly compelling a Government or international organization to do or abstain from doing any act " is potentially a terrorist act. It could aim for a National strike action or any citizen (residents, environmentalists) temporarily blocking an airport. The arbitrariness is even larger than the charge of terrorism can also be done on the basis of mere membership in a group
15.
But repression is not just transatlantic societies. Indeed, recent discussions aimed at reforming the NATO plan explicitly incorporate the concept of preventive war (striking first to prevent a threat is only potential)
16. Again, the end seems to justify the means.
Done in the name of globalization happy Transatlantic Union transforms the world according to the needs of multinational companies seeking to strengthen their grip on all aspects of our lives. With their friendship networks and their ideological connivance with politicians and intellectuals, the international business community guiding the progress of European integration in order to establish a transatlantic governance tailored to increase economic competition, population monitoring, and suppression of protesters.
Freedom to pay market prices regressions Social, ecological destruction, and democratic setbacks inquiétants.Pour very much, as evidenced also the action of TPN, it is not inevitable: there is enormous human wills to establish institutions, transforming laws, and establishing a transatlantic partnership still further. For now, only a business-political elite is in control.
But the world is constantly changing. To us, citizens, community activists, trade unionists, environmentalists, turn the tide. Tomorrow depends on what we do today. And it is time to mobilize. For lack of resistance collective, it is not only our lives are in danger, it is also (and especially) democracy.
1 The latest version of the text currently being negotiated is located at the following address:
http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2010/october/tradoc_146699.pdf . The emphasis on intellectual property rights by the European Union is exposed here:
http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/trade-topics/intellectual-property/index_en.htm .
2 Here are comparing turnover of multinational companies (source: Fortune magazine) and the national GDP (source: IMF). On this subject see the Gresea Echos No. 62, pp. 4-5.
3 See in this documentary following: Attention danger
work (Pierre Carles of
- Stéphane Goxe - Christophe Coello ) and
The Killing work of Jean-Robert Viallet. Internet links:
http://atheles.org/cpproductions/dvd/attentiondangertravail/index.html )
http://www.film-documentaire.fr/Mise_a_mort_du_travail.html, film, 25568 4 Coca-Cola uses such practices (see: http:/
/ killercoke.org / ). But it is not the only multinational to do so, as stated in his book William Bourdon
"Confronting Crimes of the market: what weapons legal for citizens?" , Editions The discovery, Paris, 2010.
5 The exact list of multinational members is available on the site TPN:
http://www.tpnonline.org/business.html (you can also find the membership policies).
6 TPN
Completing the Transatlantic Market , May 2008, p. 7. Available at the following address:
http://www.tpnonline.org/pdf/TPN 20Completing% 20the% 20Market% 20Transatlantic%% 20 -% 20Annual% 20Report.pdf 20seconds% 7 All claims are found in the document TPN:
"Toward Transatlantic Partnership - A European Strategy" , November 1994,
http://www.tpnonline.org/Archive/european.pdf . The figure for the weight of the two transatlantic partners in global trade is derived from Resolution P6_TA (2008) 0192 of the European Parliament, Article 32.
8 This adaptation project work schedules according to business needs is particularly championed by the European Commission, which would legislate in this direction. See
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52010DC0106:FR:HTML .
9 TPN
"Toward Transatlantic Partnership - A European Strategy ", November 1994, p.22.
10 In his 1998 paper quoted above (
"Completing the Transatlantic Market ", May 2008, p.9), recognizes the TPN (proudly!) That " was involved in the creation of the New Transatlantic Agenda, the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD), the Transatlantic Economic Partnership and the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC).
11 The WTO is the World Trade Organization.
12 For more information on this subject, read our previous articles: Transatlantic
"Europe, a company Transatlantic (
http://www.econospheres.be/spip. php? article 21) and
"Transatlanticism cons humanism" (
http://www.econospheres.be/spip.php?article94 ).
13 Respectively the European Police Office, the European Police College, the Judicial Cooperation Unit of the EU and the Agency For the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders.
14 In Belgium, the text is not yet effective, because it must first be approved by Parliament, which faces a challenge that citizens may find the following address:
http://bewaarjeprivacy.be/fr 15 For details on these anti-democratic logic, see Jean-Claude Paye,
"The End of the Rule of Law: The Struggle terrorism, state of exception dictatorship ", Editions La Dispute, Paris, 2004.
16 Cfr.
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_63654.htm , especially the part
Moving Toward NATO 2020 - Protecting Against Unconventional Threats. 
