EU-Mercosur deal concluded in secrecy, a tragic blow to the planet and democracy

Brussels & Montevideo, 6 December 2024 — Today, the EU and the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) concluded the EU-Mercosur trade deal negotiations, in complete secrecy. 25 years since the negotiations started, the complete text of the EU-Mercosur deal is still not publicly available. The total lack of democratic debate and transparency around the deal questions the legitimacy of the European Commission’s negotiation mandate and even the European Ombudswoman has criticised the Commission’s secret negotiations protocol. Audrey Changoe, Trade and Investment Policy Coordinator at CAN Europe, said: “This shady deal is a full-frontal assault on democracy. It was negotiated behind the backs of citizens, despite widespread concerns from different sectors of society. More than 700 million people will be impacted by the deal. It’s truly scandalous that until the last minute, the Commission refused to disclose detailed information about the negotiations and negotiating documents. This goes against Trade Commissioner Sefcovic’s promises to improve transparency and dialogue with civil society and sets a dangerous precedent for the Commission’s new mandate.” Despite widespread opposition from civil society, small-scale farmers, trade unions, and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic, the European Commission sealed the deal during the Mercosur summit in Uruguay today, precisely at the moment when Argentina’s far-right president, climate-denier Javier Milei is heading the Mercosur bloc’s rotating presidency. Against this anti-democratic backdrop, it is even more concerning that the EU Commission is considering splitting the EU-Mercosur deal in order to speed up the ratification process. Such a split would mean that the trade part of the deal would be adopted without requiring the consent of all EU member states within the Council of the EU, and without requiring national ratification by parliaments throughout the EU. This would bypass the democratic scrutiny and public debate at the national level that was initially foreseen and violate the EU’s negotiating mandate. What is the deal about and what are the main concerns? Under the deal, the EU will increase imports of beef, poultry, sugar and other agricultural products from South America, in exchange for more EU exports of cars, plastics and pesticides—including pesticides banned in the EU. These commodities are the biggest drivers of deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss, and threaten Indigenous communities, who already bear a disproportionate burden of the climate crisis. In parallel, the EU has been taking steps to delay the much-needed regulation of deforestation-risk commodities. Studies have shown that the EU-Mercosur trade deal could accelerate deforestation by 25 per cent. Despite the harmful impacts of the deal, the European Commission published the Sustainability Impact Assessment too late, which was also criticised by the EU Ombudswoman. While announcing the deal in Montevideo, Uruguay, the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen touted it as an economically win-win agreement, despite the fact that the studies have pointed out the deal poses severe economic risks, in particular for South America, further deepening inequality and hindering sustainable development in Mercosur countries. Despite claims that the EU-Mercosur deal will increase employment, the European Commission’s own Sustainability Impact Assessment admits that GDP gains from the deal are negligible. Moreover, the deal risks small and medium-sized farmers and peasant family farming being replaced by large-scale industrial agricultural and livestock production, leading to increased job losses for farmers. The EU’s new focus on boosting its global competitiveness in response to geopolitical challenges risks overshadowing democratic rights and the harmful impacts of the EU-Mercosur deal. Leaving the climate emergency on the sidelines will have detrimental costs on people and the planet, and can provoke long-term economic damage, as has been proven by recent scientific studies. Greenwash alert The EU is attempting to greenwash the deal with an environmental annex, but it fails to address the long-term destructive impacts of an outdated trade agreement. A weak and unenforceable Trade and ‘Sustainability’ Chapter is no remedy, as many legal experts have pointed out. Negotiating on a 25-year-old text is completely out of touch with the urgent realities of the climate crisis we face today. Laura Restrepo Alameda from Climate Action Network Latin America said: “No greenwashed annexes can fix this inherently bad deal. It is built to promote trade in products driving deforestation, land grabbing, massive pesticide use, carbon emissions and human rights violations. The deal pushes South America further into ecological collapse and props up a destructive neo-colonial economic system that drives social inequalities. The deal will severely affect the collective rights of Indigenous communities who already bear a disproportionate burden of the climate crisis and outrageously were never consulted about the deal.” So far, France and Poland have been vocal against the deal and this week the Dutch Parliament adopted a resolution opposing the EU-Mercosur deal. Likewise, there is resistance in Austria which vetoed the deal as well as in Ireland, Italy and Luxembourg which have expressed their reservations. Changoe said: “It is not yet a done deal. It now needs to be approved, and there is already a strong opposition. In the face of growing global far-right tendencies derailing climate action, civil society from both sides of the transatlantic will continue to raise its voice against the implementation of the EU-Mercosur deal.” Notes to editors:

CAN Europe published a report, ‘Mileinomics: Fossil fuel expansion, climate denialism and the betrayal of human rights in Milei’s Argentina & Why it’s time to drop the EU-Mercosur trade deal’ in November 2024.
Legal opinion (Umweltinstitut, 2023) and Legal Analysis (Friends of the Earth Europe, 2023) on the EU-Mercosur deal.

For more information and media requests: Jani Savolainen, Communications Coordinator, jani.savolainen@caneurope.org, +358 504667831 Interviews available in EN, FR, ES, NL, PT, DE