What's in an acronym?

This thing we call an ISDS (investor state dispute settlement)--which has been working between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. in NAFTA for twenty years--smells to high heaven, for some German politicians;

Provisions allowing companies to sue governments to protect their investments must be taken out of an EU-Canada trade agreement (Ceta), German chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition partners have said.

Speaking in the Bundestag on Thursday (25 September), Sigmar Gabriel, who leads the centre-left SPD [Socialist Party Deutschland], noted that "the chapter regarding investment protection is not approvable," adding that "the last word hasn't been spoken yet".

Might spoil your regulatory fun, if you were held accountable for your actions,eh? Especially if it sets a precedent for a trade agreement with the United States;

At the weekend, the SPD party congress agreed to support the continuation of negotiations with the US on a transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), but also conditioned their support for TTIP on investor protection clauses being left out.

Sounds like a PPP (political power play) to us, and they may have it;

Ceta faces an uncertain path when it comes before MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] in the coming months. Deputies from the centre-left Socialist and Democrat group and the Liberals have indicated that ISDS would have to be left out in order for them to support Ceta, while the Green and far-left GUE [Commies] factions have already come out against the treaty.

"My group would find it much easier to put its weight behind Ceta if ISDS was removed from the text," said Socialist group trade spokesman David Martin at the parliament's session in Strasbourg earlier this month.

In a statement on Thursday, the European trades union congress (ETUC) said that it would not support Ceta if ISDS remained part of the agreement.

FUBAR.