“Far from fostering international solidarity between agricultural workers and producers, this agreement further fuels international competition at the expense of people and the planet.”
The Party of the European Left’s Political Secretariat have issued the following statement regarding the recent debate in the European Parliament on the EU/MERCOSUR agreement.
The opaque and contested negotiations of this agreement are unacceptable. True to the anti-democratic practices of the European institutions, the key documents and exchanges of this agreement remain inaccessible to elected representatives and the people.
This is the opposite of the democratic demands that are central for the people of Europe and Latin America, who are directly impacted by this competition.
During the debate on the European Commission’s statement on 13 February at the European Parliament, we reiterated our demand that the EU-MERCOSUR agreement be submitted to a vote in the European Parliament and national parliaments. Everyone must publicly assume their democratic and political responsibilities!
On the Substance: We Once Again Call for the Rejection of This Agreement
Far from fostering international solidarity between agricultural workers and producers, this agreement further fuels international competition at the expense of people and the planet.
- It poses yet another threat to the climate by increasing trade flows, massively boosting greenhouse gas emissions.
- It also endangers soils and biodiversity in MERCOSUR countries by promoting an intensive monoculture system.
- It is a danger to the health of workers in these countries.
- It also threatens public health in Europe, as it allows the use of phytosanitary products banned in Europe but still used in MERCOSUR countries.
- Ms. Von der Leyen claims to want to protect the environment, but this agreement exposes her hypocrisy on climate issues by reinforcing the absurdity of profit-driven trade and unfair competition!
- It would weaken rights and standards while intensifying the capitalist competition between agricultural and industrial production and workers in Europe and Latin America.
- For the people of Europe, this poses yet another threat to food sovereignty.
- It hinders efforts to achieve a new agricultural pact that respects agricultural workers.
This agreement undermines fair remuneration for agricultural workers and producers in Europe by favoring the import of food products produced with lower social and environmental standards.
With the European Left, we oppose Ursula von der Leyen’s agenda of austerity and deregulation, embodied in this MERCOSUR agreement.
For the workers, for the climate, we call for a completely different form of cooperation between the European Union and the peoples of MERCOSUR.
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- This article was originally published by the European Left on 13 February 2025.
