Canada-EU trade talks on water privatisation and Internet restrictions

Speakers included Jeremie Zimmermann of La Quadrature du Net in Paris (on copyright and Internet regulation), Gabriella Zanzanaini of Food & Water Europe (on water services and the European Commission's privatization agenda), and Peter Fuchs with Berlin-based PowerShift (on investment protection and the proposed investor-state dispute settlement process in CETA.)

The teleconference on 17 October was well attended by journalists and organizations in Canada, many of them from Quebec where the newly elected Parti Québécois adds a wild-card element to the ongoing CETA negotiations. Gabriella's presentation on water services struck a chord and was reported in Le Devoir. In her presentation, Gabriella explained that while they are fighting the forced privatization of water services in Portugal and Greece (forced by the Commission as a condition of receiving bailout money), they are very concerned about how Canada is using the CETA negotiations to undermine a broad EU carve-out for water services in its existing trade deals.

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