Press Release ECVC – ”Mercosur: when the hypocrisy of the EU hits the rights of peasants and citizens.”

Brussels 2 July 2019

ECVC calls on the EU Parliament and Member States to reject the agreement

Last Friday The European Commission signed the free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries.

The agreement with Mercosur, jointly with other free trade agreements, such as CETA, destroy the sustainable model of small and medium-scale farmers, food sovereignty and the conditions for healthy and sustainable food models’, says Andoni Garcia Arriola member of the ECVC’s coordinating committee.

‘The signing of this agreementclearly shows the hypocrisy of the EC and the member states that hide behind it:

 ‘How is it possible in the context of a climate crisis to sign an agreement that promotes a model of industrialization of agriculture instead of the localised agricultural systems, in total contradiction with the objectives of the Paris agreement on climate change?

How is it possible to sign an agreement that will clearly negatively affect the incomes of European farmers when farmers’ incomes are very low compared to other sectors of European society, and without establishing any serious mechanism of internal regulation in the EU to change the situation?

‘How can one accept that agricultural policies are guided by a cannibalistic  philosophy of global  free trade rather than being oriented towards sustainable development and respect for human rights?

‘How can you sell such an agreement to European consumers who want a healthy and local diet?

‘Is it acceptable for an agreement of this length to be signed by an a commission at the end of its mandate?

‘For ECVC this agreement is in total contradiction with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Persons Working in the Rural Areas adopted in December 2018, in contradiction with the Sustainable Development Goals signed by the EU and in total contradiction with the fundamental principle of the EU of territorial cohesion, as it is will impact a sector already in crisis and that will accelerate the depopulation of the European countryside.

‘Therefore, ECVC asks the new European Parliament and the governments of the EU Member States to reject this agreement.’

 ENDS

 Contact: +32 (0)2  217 311 – info@eurovia.org