The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament published on 16 January a very critical analysis of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, calling once again for the rejection of the agreement concluded between the two blocs last June (see EUROPE 12374/5).
Written by two Argentinian researchers from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), the study stresses that the sectors that would benefit most from the treaty are already the most competitive. The lion's share would go to the industrial sector in the EU and the agro-food sector in Mercosur, in order to “maintain and deepen” the existing asymmetries between the two regional blocs.
In Mercosur, this specialisation will further increase the harmful impact of the agricultural sector on the environment, with the massive use of pesticides, deforestation, human rights violations and animal welfare abuses, researchers say.
Another effect of this asymmetry is the loss of jobs in Mercosur’s manufacturing industry.
The treatment of rules of origin in the agreement could also have a detrimental impact on employment, particularly in the textile sector, the research shows.
Finally, the researchers deplore the lack of ambition in the sustainable development chapter of the agreement.
And the report concludes that the treaty “does not deviate from the dominant trade policy paradigm advocated by the EU since 2009” and could even “fundamentally undermine global efforts to avert runaway climate change”.
Consult the study: https://bit.ly/2uUFOsA (Original version in French by Hermine Donceel)