Big Business, BIG Winner At SPP Summit

By: Dana Gabriel - 30 April, 2008 Commentary / Analysis, General News

The besieged Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America received a renewed commitment from all three NAFTA leaders at the recent summit in New Orleans. This is a much needed boast for the North American Union agenda that is seen as widely unpopular. There is little doubt that big business is a driving force behind deeper continental integration. The latest SPP Summit reaffirmed that corporate interests will continue to further dominate this process. The corporate agenda is shaping policy, and as their profits increase, they gain more control over our lives.

The SPP is the brainchild of business and political elites who wish to advance North American integration. In June of 2006, the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC) was launched, and is the only formal advisory board in the SPP.  The NACC represents private corporate interests, and through the SPP, transnational corporate rights are being further empowered. In February of 2007, the NACC made 51 proposals to SPP negotiators. They are essentially formulating policy and using the SPP to lay the foundation for a North American Union. The NACC is now actively promoting energy privatization in Mexico. It is the multinational corporations who have the most to gain from the SPP.

Bruce Campbell, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, lays out just how the SPP structure operates. He said, “Business conveys its demand, the politicians respond, consensus is reached, and civil servants implement. This takes the privatization of public policy-making to a new level.” Stuart Trew of the Council of Canadians said, “These corporate recommendations are going directly to the respective bureaucracies, and they are being pushed heavily.”

Before the Leader Summit, the NACC released a report where they stated, “Our most critical request to the leaders is for them to ensure that the SPP remains a dynamic and effective path forward for trilateral and bilateral co-operation.” There was some fear that this agenda might be further stalled or replaced with something else. Not to worry, because here is what Bush had to say about corporate recommendations, “I’m looking forward to hearing them, and I’m looking forward to implementing them.” Mexican President Calderon also said, “we need to work within the North American Competitiveness Council, where the three leaders agreed we fully need to support the work of this Competitiveness Council.” It sounds like the SPP is back on track, and the NACC and corporate interests will have even more clout.


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