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

The event recording is available here. Read all the factsheets here.

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

17:00-17:15 Brussels / 13:00-13:15 Rio Presentation of the fact sheets by Shefali Sharma, Director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) European office

17:15-17:30 Brussels / 13:15-13:30 Rio Comments by:

• Anna Cavazzini, MEP, The Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, Brussels, chair of the EP Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection and Vice-Chair of the EP Delegation for relations with Brazil
• 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

17:30-18:00 / 13:30-14:00 Rio 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

Working languages: English and Portuguese (simultaneous interpretation).

Please register here.

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