Archived press release

Chair admits failure of multilateral investment negotiations

23 March 1998

Frans Engering, Dutch Chair of the MAI Negotiating Group, admitted the failure of the negotiations during a heated public debate in the Netherlands on 20 March [1]. He said he would recommend to governments that they not sign the treaty [2] at the OECD Ministerial Conference in April as originally intended.

This is the first time that the usually-bullish Chair has signalled defeat in the negotiations.Engering acknowledged that failure to sign will mean at least another one year delay for a treaty which had been due to be signed at the last OECD Ministerial Conference in May 1997.

Kevin Dunion, Chair, Friends of the Earth International said:

"This is an extremely significant political moment. Engering has admitted that the game is up and the only future for the negotiations is downhill. The force of public and parliamentary opposition world-wide to this extremely undemocratic treaty, combined with internal squabbling, has successfully derailed it. It is a defeat for would-be corporate rulers and a victory for democracy. Negotiators must take note and abandon hopes of pushing through this flawed treaty. "

The unravelling of MAI negotiations reveals the increasing power of environmental, labor,development and other citizen organisations to block pro-corporate, anti-democratic trade and investment deals. (3)
However the derailment of the MAI at the OECD does not mean that this victory is the final word about international investment rules, according to Friends of the Earth.

"The next step is to take the offensive and push for international economic rules that control speculative capital, hold corporations accountable to the public, and bind them to responsible practices in all their operations," said Dunion.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The debate was held at a conference on 'Development in Africa' organised by the Evert Vermeer Foundation on 21 March in Utrecht.

[2] The MAI, called the 'corporate rule treaty' by critics, would grant investors unprecedented rights over governments, affecting the democratic balance of power and disabling governments' regulatory authority at all levels. The treaty has been negotiated in secrecy at the OECD by the 29 member countries and a handful of observer states since 1995. Its far-reaching provisions would cover virtually every economic sector and jeopardise laws protecting the environment, social welfare, labour rights, health and worker safety. If the treaty is completed in its current form, the MAI would require local, state and national governments to: - Treat foreign corporations the same as or better than local companies; - Pay foreign investors compensation for environmental and other laws that have "the effect of taking" investors' assets; - Defend lawsuits from foreign corporations in special international courts closed to public scrutiny;

[3] The draft MAI has attracted world-wide opposition. More than 565 groups from over than 70 countries have endorsed a statement calling for a suspension of the negotiations;environmental, social and development reviews of the treaty; and any future negotiations to take place in a more democratic forum. On 9 March, 1998, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly (437 in favour, 8 against) in favour of a resolution supportive of these demands and calling on EU member States and parliaments not to sign the MAI as it stands.

Copies of the Joint NGO Statement on the MAI and the EP Resolution can be obtained from the press contacts listed below.

The FoE US/ FoEI publication, "License to Loot! The MAI and How to Stop It," containing arguments against, and alternatives to, the MAI can be found at the FoE US web site:http://www.foe.org/ga.loot.html

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust