European Parliament Vows to Check Validity of Anti-TTIP Motion Rejection

© AP Photo / Martin MeissnerProtestors demonstrate against the free trade agreements TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) during an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015
Protestors demonstrate against the free trade agreements TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) during an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Since the rejection of the initiative by the European Commission, Stop TTIP has launched its own ECI and gathered almost 3.3 million signatures from 23 EU countries. Earlier on Tuesday, Stop TTIP activists handed the petition to Schulz, and demanded a parliamentary hearing.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz promised the Stop TTIP movement that he would look into whether the rejection of a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) against the EU-US Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership and a similar EU-Canada deal called CETA in July 2014 was legal, Anne Daenner, a spokeswoman for Stop TTIP, told Sputnik on Tuesday.

“We got the response from Mr. Schulz yesterday. He said that he wanted to inform the committee on petitions to meet as soon as possible with representatives of Stop TTIP. He said that it should be checked why the European Commission had rejected the ECI 'Stop TTIP,' how this is compatible with the European legal norms and if the rejection is legally correct,” Daenner said.

European consumer rights activists take part in a march to protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), austerity and poverty in Brussels, Belgium October 17, 2015 - Sputnik International
TTIP Opponents File Petition Signed by Over 3Mln Europeans to EU Parliament
She added that Schulz pledged to check "if a hearing in this committee as a part of the European Parliament would be possible."

The stated goal of TTIP is to streamline the flow of goods and services across the Atlantic. The pact seeks to create the world's largest deregulated trade zone, encompassing over 60 percent of global production.

Anti-TTIP activists criticize the trade deal for the unusual secrecy in which it is being negotiated, and are concerned that released sections of the document clearly show that it will benefit multinational corporations and corporate rights-holders at the expense of sovereign nations and consumers.

The next round of TTIP talks is planned for the beginning of 2016.

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