Our international trade should comply with our social and green values.
We do not want to contribute to deforestation, to the violations of indigenous peoples’ rights and to the use of toxic pesticides in third countries. We do not want to import food that contains dangerous pesticides and violates animal welfare standards. We want the EU to protect social rights and sustainable farming.
The EU-Mercosur trade deal that has been in the making runs counter to all these goals.
Instead, it will bolster the toxic agro-industry that is destroying the environment and violating human rights in the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). The toxic trade deal threatens the Amazon forest and other precious biomes of Latin America that have already fallen victim to the land-grabbing of mega-farms. These forests and biomes have a regional and even global role to play in fighting climate change and biodiversity loss. The deal also threatens the indigenous people residing in these exceptional natural areas.
The agreement would also put in danger the sustainable farming model we are trying to put in place in the EU. It would bring unfair competition from products that do not have to comply with the same standards.
We want to stop this dinosaur deal from being concluded and ratified. We want to enhance cooperation with Mercosur countries in a way that supports human rights, sustainable development and our climate and biodiversity goals. We want cooperation that protects indigenous people, farmers, workers, consumers. Cooperation that is based on global justice and not just the interests of a handful of multinationals and their armies of paid lobbyists. Other alternatives exist. Read our study below to find out more:
Faced with farmers’ vocal opposition to this deal and to keep things quiet during EU elections, some EU leaders pretended negotiations were suspended. They are not, so let’s make some noise.
The European Commission wants to conclude the negotiations on the deal as fast as possible. It also wants to put the ratification of the deal in the fast lane. It is very likely that only the European Parliament will have a say. This (il)legal trick is contrary to the mandate that was set for negotiations, according to which national parliaments should also agree to the deal.
Today most of the Conservatives, liberals and socialists approve of this deal. Big lobbies, from the European car industry to pesticides producers, are pushing them to support it.
But we can still stop it. The mobilisation against this deal has stayed strong and as a result we’ve managed to avoid the signing of this deal throughout the whole 5-year mandate. With you, we will keep up the fight. Let’s stop the EU-Mercosur trade deal #StopEUMercosur
