TTIP: fast track to deregulation and lower health and safety protection for EU workers

This Policy Brief focuses on how EU occupational health and safety may be affected by the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP). It draws attention to the connections between the TTIP and the REFIT programme which according to the author share a common objective, namely, to place deregulation high on the agenda.

Author Aída María Ponce del Castillo insists on the need to consistently opt for upwards convergence and avoid lowering protection standards. Her recommendations make the case for an exclusion of health and safety aspects from the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) jurisdiction and for the need to ensure that member states maintain their ability to enforce their rules and go beyond minimum standards. Finally, the Policy Brief concludes that one major aim of the European Commission’s REFIT programme is to facilitate adoption of the TTIP, at the expense of the whole EU acquis.