The EU-Mercosur trade agreement: Implications for climate, food safety, pesticides and public procurement

Watch the recording of the webinar in English and Portuguese. 

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) cordially invite you to the online presentation and debate on four fact sheets, taking a closer look at critical issues at stake with the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement.

Concerns about environmental and social impacts were among the contentious issues that have led to more than 20 years of negotiations between the EU and the Mercosur trading bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). Before the agreement can enter into force, it needs — depending on its form — the approval of the European Parliament, the 27 EU Member States as well as the national parliaments of the Mercosur countries. These concerns do, however, still exist and have triggered several EU Member States and the European Parliament to reject the current deal as it stands.

Four fact sheets, produced by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), provide an evidence-based overview over what the free trade agreement would mean for public procurement, pesticides and genetically modified organisms, food safety, and climate change and land use. They provide facts and figures useful to policy-makers, civil society actors and journalists alike and show that critical social and environmental rights are at risk to be undermined. Experts from politics, civil society and academia will discuss the findings and ways forward.

Agenda

10:00 a.m. CT / 17:00-17:15 CEST — Presentation of the fact sheets by Shefali Sharma, Director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) European office

10:15 a.m. CT / 17:15-17:30 CEST — Comments by:

• Anna Cavazzini, MEP, The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, Brussels
• Maureen Santos, Policy Officer, Federation of Organizations for Social and Educational Assistance, Rio de Janeiro
• Yann Laurans, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Programme Director at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (iddri), Paris

10:30 a.m. CT / 17:30-18:00 CEST — Discussion and Q&A with the audience

Moderation by Lisa Tostado, Head of International Climate, Trade and Agriculture Policy Programme, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union

Please register here.