We need to cooperate with other countries. But our collaborations need to be democratically anchored and raise the minimum level for environmental protection, consumer protection and labor law. Production and trade must improve not by making things worse for employees and citizens, but by streamlining and quality assurance.
The agreements must come through democratic and open processes. The TTIP trade agreement is an example of the opposite.
TTIP is not democratically anchored because it is negotiated in secrecy. The agreement is therefore not available to read in its entirety. But, someone objects, trade agreements are usually negotiated under secrecy? Well, maybe it's time to change that. A trade agreement is a matter for open democratic processes, not closed boardrooms. The citizens are not actually the politicians' customers or employees, but their employers.
The information on the EU Commission own website is angled. The media in Sweden does not pay much attention to the issue. But there are exceptions. Vänsterpartiet drives the issue. Also The Green Party are critical. The Social Democrats are unclear on the matter. The alliance sees no disadvantages.
Do you want to act? against TTIP? You will find the European citizens' initiative Stop TTIP here. You can find the Swedish campaign against TTIP here.