The article points to another threat (in addition to the Investor-state dispute settlement sections in multi-lateral trade treaties) to what passes as democracy in capitalist countries: "regulatory cooperation" clauses in these trade treaties.
The new EU position paper on “regulatory cooperation and good regulatory
practices" offers an insight into how negotiators hope to avoid future "nontariff"
and "technical barriers" to trade. While it is unclear precisely what form
such “cooperation” would take, we understand that the proposals would entail
several changes to EU and US law-making processes.