On the sidelines of the fourth round of talks to update the EU-Mexico trade talks in Brussels this week, around 50 civil society organisations spoke of their "serious concerns", on Friday 30 June, regarding human rights and investor protection. They called for the talks to be stopped as certain criteria are not respected.
The 50 or so organisations say that several independent studies have concluded that the EU-Mexico free trade agreement has not delivered on sustainable development, job creation, or the protection of human rights in Mexico. The agreement has been in force since 2000.
"A major priority appears to be the deepening of investment rights, at the cost of public interest regulations and national legal systems", the organisations regret. The talks, which are largely taking place behind closed doors, stand to deepen the imbalance between binding rights for corporations and voluntary guidelines when it comes to respect for human rights, the organisations warn. They also raise concerns about the consequences for small farmers and food sovereignty.
"The negotiating parties should learn from past mistakes and focus on a deal that promotes a new type of relations based on economic complementarity, full respect for human rights, and the right of governments to determine their own economic development models", Cecilia Olivet, a researcher at the Transnational Institute, stated.
The EU and Mexico decided to review the outlines of their comprehensive agreement in 2015 in order to integrate new subjects (environmental protection, workers' rights, intellectual property and investment). After three rounds of talks since May 2016, the two parties decided in early May this year to accelerate their negotiations and agreed to hold technical meetings every month in the second half of this year with a view to reaching an agreement in principle by the end of 2017.
The protectionist threat of US President Donald Trump against Mexico (establishing a tax on Mexican imports, and withdrawing the US from the North American Free Trade Agreement – NAFTA) contributed to this acceleration of EU-Mexico talks.
However, the path is still long towards a comprehensive agreement 2.0 between the two parties, given the many European offensive interests in agriculture and public procurement.
The EU also wants to include sustainable development arrangements in the agreement, and a mechanism on the settlement of investment disputes that would be based on the new investment court system (ICS) provided for in its free trade agreement with Canada. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)