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BackThe EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been under negotiation for more than a quarter of a century. Only last month, the EU Commission reached a political agreement on it with the Mercosur countries and is now pushing for its ratification by 2025. Despite the promise of economic and geopolitical benefits, concerns remain about its environmental impact, labour standards, and political transparency. Julie Zalcman, trade campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE), sheds light on these issues and argues that the agreement could perpetuate neo-colonial dynamics while failing to meet the EU's climate and sustainability goals.
The planned EU-Mercosur FTA, which was taken off the table in 2019, has now resurfaced with a political agreement in early December. Facing strong opposition from trade unions, environmental NGOs and several member states, its ratification is far from certain. AK also has massive reservations and rejects the agreement. The main points of criticism revolve around the FTA’s environmental impact, inadequate labour standards, and a lack of political transparency. We spoke to Julie Zalcman from Friends of the Earth Europe about FoEE’s perspective on the deal.
AK EUROPA: Could you give us a rough timeline of the EU-Mercosur negotiations? How did we get to this point?
ZALCMAN: The EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement has been in negotiation for over 25 years between the EU and the Mercosur countries: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. These negotiations have been long and complicated, characterised by a significant lack of transparency and participation of civil society, including trade unions, NGOs, local communities, and indigenous peoples. Together with Anders Handeln we recently published a report highlighting this lack of democratic scrutiny and participation. In 2019, a political agreement has been achieved, but ratification has been halted after huge forest fires in the Amazon caused a public outcry, especially with Jair Bolsonaro in power in Brazil. Countries such as Austria and France demanded a halt. Even with Bolsonaro out of the picture, the situation hasn't improved much since 2019, especially when it comes to Argentina's new leadership under Javier Milei.
AK EUROPA: An AK study found that the Mercosur FTA offers only minimal economic benefits for the average EU citizen. What is the aim of this trade agreement and who benefits from it?
ZALCMAN: The main beneficiaries are the car industry and large agro-industrial companies. The EU wants to export more industrial products, especially cars, to Mercosur countries. In return, the EU would import raw materials such as soy, wood, sugar, ethanol, and meat. Beef imports are a major issue. European farmers and farmers’ organisations oppose them because of differences in labour standards, sanitary regulations, and environmental protection, which would make Mercosur products cheaper and increase pressure on European goods.
AK EUROPA: What are the main concerns regarding the impact of the agreement on environmental and labour standards?
ZALCMAN: A major issue is the new dispute settlement mechanism, which allows Mercosur countries to challenge new EU regulations impacting their economic interests. This could undermine future EU environmental and labour legislations, creating a chilling effect and risking legitimate EU regulations being contested. Complaints can even be raised against EU measures that have already been adopted but not fully implemented, like the EU Deforestation Regulation. The agreement also lacks sufficient guarantees on climate, deforestation, and labour rights.
AK EUROPA: The EU Commission promised an environmental annex to address concerns about deforestation and climate change. What happened to it?
ZALCMAN: Indeed, it did promise a robust environmental annex, but it hasn’t delivered on those promises. An early version included a commitment to reduce deforestation by 50% by 2025, but this was removed in the final text published in December. The joint instrument that was leaked in 2023 had included these concrete objectives. This is problematic because the EU-Mercosur FTA is predicted to accelerate deforestation rates in the Mercosur region by at least 5% per year.
AK EUROPA: It is often said that the deal perpetuates neo-colonial dynamics. Can you elaborate on this argument?
ZALCMAN: The EU’s approach locks Mercosur in the role of raw material supplier without helping them develop their own local industries. The term “Cars against Cows Deal” captures this well —exporting industrial products like cars to Mercosur while importing raw materials and agricultural products such as beef or soy contributing to deforestation and environmental degradation. There’s a double standard: The EU phases out cars with combustion engines and harmful pesticides internally but wants to export them to Mercosur. Pesticides banned in Europe are still exported to Mercosur, harming rural workers and local communities.
AK EUROPA: Some argue the EU-Mercosur FTA is geopolitically necessary due to increased pressure from China. Is there validity to this?
ZALCMAN: The EU claims the deal is necessary to counterbalance China's influence in Mercosur, but that's hypocritical. The purpose of trade agreements isn’t really to answer geopolitical issues. There are better ways that don’t compromise democratic processes or environmental and labour standards.
AK EUROPA: The political odds don’t seem to be stacked in favour of the trade agreement. What strategies might the EU Commission adopt to achieve the ratification of this trade agreement?
ZALCMAN: The Commission is exploring legal avenues to navigate ratification. They might try to split the agreement, similar to Singapore, to expedite ratification by avoiding national vetoes. This approach undermines democratic processes and national sovereignty. The lack of scrutiny and respect for national decision-making will most likely only deepen public distrust in EU institutions. If they take this route, it will likely increase backlash, particularly from Austria, France, and Ireland. Mobilizing a broader coalition of member states and civil society groups to form a blocking minority in the EU Council is crucial. Sustained public opposition from farmers, unions, and environmental NGOs will be vital.
The opinions and views expressed in this interview do not necessarily reflect the positions of AK.
Further information
FoEE: Website
FoEE: Stop the EU-Mercosur trade deal
FoEE: 7 reasons to stop the EU-Mercosur trade deal
FoEE: +400 organisations urge leaders to drop EU-Mercosur deal
AK EUROPA: Does the EU MERCOSUR Trade Agreement live up to its promise?
AK EUROPA: AK rejects EU-MERCOSUR Trade Agreement!
AK EUROPA: EU-Mercosur Agreement - Splitting as a risk to democratic participation
AK EUROPA: The EU-MERCOSUR Trade Agreement - a threat to people and nature
AK Wien: Warum die AK das Mercosur-Handelsabkommen ablehnt (only German)