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Trade and investments

Political article

Mercosur negotiations behind closed doors

Anger is widespread in Mercosur countries over free trade negotiations with the EU. It is feared that industrial jobs will disappear to make way for a commodity-exporting economy. Things are not much different in the case of EFTA.

Mercosur and EFTA: Transparency requested!

Four Swiss NGOs and Friends of the Earth Uruguay ask State parties to guarantee transparency in the free trade negotiations between Mercosur and EFTA.

WTO and the fourth industrial revolution

The 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires shall discuss – among other topics – the liberalisation of E-commerce. The digital divide is likely to deepen even more. The Alliance Sud position.

Article as analysis

Investment protection: A collapsing system

States sign investment protection agreements among themselves, multinational corporations can sue if they are violated. This is becoming ever more frequent. But more and more States are reacting by terminating those agreements.

Article as analysis

Investing responsibly in Iran – is this possible?

Enterprises must respect human rights, including when investing abroad. What should Switzerland's role be in opening up Iran, the investor El Dorado?

Article as analysis

TISA: Negotiations at a standstill

Even if the TISA negotiations were to be continued in 2017, they are still fraught with problems, especially regarding the liberalization of public services.

Political article

Switzerland and TISA: the official position

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) has replied to our opinion, published in Le Temps on December 6th. We publish it here, with the counter-reply and the arguments of its author, Isolda Agazzi.

Article as analysis

Philip Morris vs Uruguay: only a partial victory

Uruguay has won the year-long lawsuit concerning its anti-smoking policy against Philip Morris. The ruling might have been completely different, however.

Investment protection: Philip Morris vs Uruguay

In 2010, Philip Morris filed a complaint against Uruguay over its anti-tobacco legislation. The tobacco giant sued for US$25 million in compensation. On 8 July 2016, Uruguay received a favourable award. Why this lawsuit should never have existed.