I OECD sin regi er man i ferd med å forhandle ferdig et globalt
avtalesystem som forplikter deltakerlandene til "fri kapitalbevegelse"
a la EU. Med andre ord er man i ferd med å innføre et globalt
"Maastricht" via OECD. Dette er helt ukjent i Norge, og jeg antar at
Norge akter å slutte seg til MAI?
Hvis KK mot formodning har skrevet om dette, saa har det gått meg hus
forbi. Uansett, dette boer man vel drive kampanje mot, med samme
prioritet som f.eks. Schengen?
OECD sin egen info på
http://www.oecd.org/daf/cmis/faqmai.htm
Kritisk info på
http://www.islandnet.com/plethora/
http://www.geocities.com/athens/3565/nomai.html
Se ogsaa vedlagte kommentar fra Canada, hvor det ser ut til
at denne saka ihvertfall blir debattert.
Trond andresen
***************
Sterling News Service, May 14, 1997
MAI -- NAFTA on steroids
An opinion piece
By Hubert Beyer
VICTORIA -- Few Canadians have heard of the Multilateral Agreement on
Investment (MAI), even though, if adopted, it would strengthen the rights of
multinational corporations immensely at the expense of the great unwashed,
namely you and me.
It's been referred to as NAFTA on steroids. Progressive Democratic
Alliance leader Gordon Wilson says if MAI is implemented, "We will have
little sovereignty left in Canada."
Just what is MAI? In a nutshell, the agreement would force participating
countries to treat foreign investors equal to domestic companies. It would
remove governments' right to provide subsidies or other forms of financial
assistance, including tax breaks, to domestic companies as part of job
protection strategies.
The agreement also would prohibit governments from introducing
investments restrictions or requirements for domestic ownership, and
prohibit the kind of "capital flight" legislation that has, to some degree,
protected Canadian workers from corporate movement to low-wage areas
such as Mexico.
But worst of all, Canada is close to signing the agreement, which is still
being negotiated behind closed doors at the headquarters of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. The
deadline for ratification of the agreement by the organization's 29 member
states is scheduled for this fall.
Premier Glen Clark says the agreement would tie the hands of any
government in several key areas, including job creation, culture, health
care, the environment and even the constitution.
"If any semblance of democracy is to be salvaged in Canada, steps must be
taken to forestall this surrender to corporate tyranny," he says.
If Canada signs the agreement, one of the first things on the chopping block
would be the Forest and Jobs Accord which, the NDP hopes, will create
more than 20,000 forest-related jobs over the next five years.
The agreement, now close to its final draft stage, also stipulates that the
"national treatment" and "most favored nation" clauses apply to the
privatization of state enterprises.
That means foreign investors would be allowed to bid on Crown
corporations that are being privatized. It is thus quite conceivable that the
CBC and other Canadian institutions could end up under U.S. or other
foreign control, should a future Canadian government decide to completely
privatize them.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Vancouver-based think
tank, describes the purpose of the agreement this way:
"MAI is designed to establish a new set of global rules for investment that
will grant trans-national corporations the unrestricted right and freedom to
buy, sell, and move their operations whenever and wherever they want
around the world, unfettered by government intervention or regulation."
Now, whenever I mention the Fraser Institute, I point out that it's a right-
wing outfit. To be fair, I also point out that the Canadian Centre of Policy
Alternatives is a left-wing outfit. But left or right, there's nothing in the
Multilateral Agreement on Investment that makes me feel comfortable.
The fact that hardly any news leaked out during the talks leading up to
preparations for final ratification of the agreement is scary in itself. But
most of all, it is the assault on Canada's sovereignty that is alarming.
With each new international trade agreement, our elected governments lose
more power. And they lose them to business -- big, multi-national business
-- which has no conscience other than looking out for the shareholders'
interests.
There should be a national outcry over the proposed Multilateral Agreement
on Investment.
(Hubert Beyer is a Victoria-based political analyst. He can be reached at
Tel: 920-9300; Fax: 385-6783; E-Mail: hubert@coolcom.com)