Arbitration proposals for trade deal

Proposals for an arbitration system in the EU-US trade deal under negotiation have been well received by most EU countries including Ireland, Germany and France.

Negotiations on this investor state dispute mechanism have been frozen for the past few months after a public outcry over potentially allowing business interests to overturn national laws in special tribunals.

The new proposals presented to trade ministers in Brussels yesterday by Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom were described by the French and German ministers as a “political revolution”.