While negotiations for the EU-Mercosur agreement are currently taking place on a daily basis to speed up the conclusion of the additional protocol, more work needs to be done to match our commitments, writes a group of EU lawmakers.
To protect the rights of Nicaraguans, democratic governments, especially in the Americas and the EU, should strengthen and coordinate their actions effectively, write Carlos Fernando Chamorro and Juanita Goebertus.
Strengthening European Union relations with Latin America is strategic for Europe, and strengthened EU-Brazil ties could be the key, writes Antoni Comín i Oliveres.
The EU-Mercosur trade deal will substantially increase the trade in agricultural products, including beef, soy and ethanol, commodities that are directly tied to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and human rights violations, writes Audrey Changoe.
While the EU maintains that ethanol has a role to play in Europe’s shift to clean transport, the production of ethanol is damaging the environment and hurting local communities in South America, argues Audrey Changoe.
To pass the EU-Mercosur deal in its current state would set an horrific precedent for future trade deals currently under negotiation and fly in the face of the EU’s landmark Green Deal, write Laurence Tubiana and Ani Toni.
The EU must understand that a promise in a trade deal is no substitute for a deforestation control policy – something that’s awfully lacking in Brazil under its far-right regime, writes Marcio Astrini.
As the political divide over the Mercosur trade deal widens, its advocates argue that shelving it will damage the EU’s credibility. The opposite is true, writes Perrine Fournier.
The EU's trade policy needs a radical overhaul following Parliament's opposition to the EU-Mercosur treaty, write Raphael Glucksmann and Agnes Jongerius.
It’s taken 20 years to build but Europe’s trade deal with the ‘Mercosur’ group of South American countries is looking increasingly like a rush job – with its environmental and social aspects the most shoddy, writes Amandine Van der Berghe. Amandine …
Only with a strong law can European consumers be confident that the production of the food they eat does not fuel the horrendous fires we witness every year in the Amazon, writes Ester Asin.
The EU needs to change strategy if it wishes to stand for democracy in Cuba, by opening up to independent civil society, write Anders L. Petersson and Erik Jennische.
Agreements with governments that do not intend to respect the principles laid down in the texts are just cynical tools that undermine an international order built on trust, and the current Cuban government is a case in point, write Manuel Cuesta Morúa and Erik Jennische.
Paradoxically it was the EU’s closest partner, the United States, that has done most to damage Federica Mogherini's legacy as High Representative with a full-scale assault on the EU’s commitment to multilateralism, writes Fraser Cameron.
At a time when the Brexit divorce deal hangs on a magic formula not to harm the Good Friday Agreement, Julian Oliver reminds that Northern Ireland peace served as a model in other parts of the world.
Almost 10% of clothing and footwear sold in the EU are fakes and the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) defends the need for legally binding instruments to fight piracy when negotiating trade agreements with third countries, writes Christian Archambeau.
By talking only to the Cuban government, and ignoring civil society groups, the EU is allowing the Cuban state to continue its programme of repressing democracy and human rights, write Ariadna Mena Rubio, Rosa Maria Payá and Erik Jennische.
Brazilian foreign policy under new President Jair Bolsonaro won’t focus on cooperation with neighbours in Latin America, so the EU should double down on its flexible approach to Latin America, says Gustavo Müller.
The Bishops of Latin America are concerned that the EU is more prompt in negotiating new trade deals than ensuring the respect of basic human rights, when violated by companies who have their headquarters in Europe, writes Cardinal Pedro Barreto.
The trade agreement currently being negotiated by the EU and Morcosur will increase poverty and accelerate the demise of European farmers by subjecting them to unfair competition, argue Perrine Fournier and Yannick Jadot.
If the EU truly wants to be the global progressive trading power, it needs to make sure its trade policy does not promote ill-health, and instead makes a real contribution to the SDGs, writes George Thurley.
Imports of Argentine soy biodiesel, which are among the most unsustainable of biofuels, have exploded in recent months because the EU lost a trade case at the WTO, writes Kristina Wittkopp.
As trade officials desperately try to move the long-delayed EU-Mercosur agreement forward this week, we must stop and consider that this deal is likely to go far beyond the balance of trade, and increase economic, social and political divisions within both continents, writes Helmut Scholz.
The risk that the EU-Mercosur trade talks get derailed yet again is high, writes Iana Dreyer, spelling out the warning signs.
