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Hello, I'm my slash podcasts. up in arms about new trade treaties now being negotiated. You might think trade is boring, but

stick with me because it's certainly not boring now.

Hello everyone, welcome to the protest. now.

In London and in cities across Europe, protesters organized by social media

are loudly opposing a proposed trade treaty between Europe and the United States.

If we keep going, we can win, the grassroots can stop this, thank you.

A really big issue triggering the protests is a right under the proposed

treaty for an investor on one side of the Atlantic to sue a government on the other if they say that

government's actions damage their commercial interests. In legal jargon, bear

with me, it's known as Investor State Dispute Settlement or ISDS and it's already

built into thousands of treaties around the world. In this program we'll examine

ISDS how it came into being and why protesters are now saying it poses a threat to democracy.

We've seen case after case of environmental policies being challenged, of nuclear

power rollback being challenged, of tobacco control policies being

challenged.

Melinda St Louis is International Campaigns Director for Public Citizen, a large American-based

NGO.

There's massive opposition to this in Latin America, in Southeast Asia, in India, and South Africa.

It truly is a global opposition.

One case more than any other gets to the heart of the current controversy

...