Scotland needs to turn up the volume on CETA
Mark Ruskell MSP, Environment spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, will today (27 Oct) use a Holyrood debate on the EU to highlight the risk of fracking companies gaining the upper hand should the Westminster Government continue to back controversial trade deals such as CETA.
The motion for debate calls on the UK Government to ensure that Scotland has a role in decision-making.
An amendment submitted by the Greens seeks to add specific concerns about the CETA trade deal - due to be ratified or rejected at a summit in Brussels today - and the negative implications for environmental protection in Scotland. The amendment calls on the UK Government to address these concerns.
Mark Ruskell MSP said:
"The negotiations to take us out of Europe against our wishes are being led by a right-wing Westminster Government that is gung-ho for fracking. The kind of free-trade deals Theresa May hopes to strike are corporate power grabs communities have been fighting, such as TTIP and CETA.
"Scotland needs to turn up the volume on these issues and make the case for staying in the EU so we have a strong voice on environmental protections. Wallonia has shown just this week that this is possible.
"Deals such as CETA risk washing away our environmental protections and leaving the door wide open for big business to sue, as the experience in Quebec over its fracking moratorium has shown. The Westminster Government has been CETA's biggest cheerleader and it's simply unacceptable that our precious natural environment could be traded away by Tories we didn't elect and who aren't listening to Scotland."