According to MEPs, the latest draft version of the TTIP agreement could sabotage European efforts to save energy and switch to clean power.
A leak of the fourteenth round of the negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal between the EU and US, shows that the EU will propose a rollback of mandatory energy saving measures, and major obstacles to any future pricing schemes designed to encourage the uptake of renewable energies.
Environmental protections against fossil fuel extraction, logging and mining in the developing world would also come under pressure from articles in the proposed energy chapter.
Paul de Clerck, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth Europe, said the leaked document: "is in complete contradiction with Europe's commitments to tackle climate change. It will flood the EU market with inefficient appliances, and consumers and the climate will foot the bill. The proposal will also discourage measures to promote renewable electricity production from wind and solar."
The draft chapter obliges the two trade blocs to: "foster industry self-regulation of energy efficiency requirements for goods where such self-regulation is likely to deliver the policy objectives faster or in a less costly manner than mandatory requirements." Campaigners fear that this could tip the balance in the future policy debates and setback efforts to tackle climate change.
Jack Hunter, a spokesman for the European Environmental Bureau said: "Legally binding energy standards have done wonders to lower energy bills for homes and offices, so much so that energy use has dropped even as the British economy has grown and appliances have become more power-hungry. Voluntary agreements have a place, but are generally 'business as usual' and no substitute for the real thing. If they become the norm, it would seriously harm our fight against climate change."
Another passage in the draft text mandates that operators of energy networks grant access to gas and electricity "on commercial terms that are reasonable, transparent and non-discriminatory, including as between types of energy." This could create an avenue for preventing the imposition of feed-in tariffs and other support schemes to encourage the uptake of clean energy, according to lawmakers in Brussels.
Claude Turmes, The Green MEP, said: "These proposals are completely unacceptable. They would sabotage EU legislators' ability to privilege renewables and energy efficiency over unsustainable fossil fuels. This is an attempt to undermine democracy in Europe."
