Today, a European alliance of over 50 civil society
organisations has launched the Alternative Trade Mandate, a proposal to make EU trade and investment policy work for
people and the planet, not just the profit interests of a few. The launch was
taking place as EU trade ministers and the European Commission are leaving for
the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations in Bali next week. “The current
trade and investment regime, imposed by the EU and the WTO, isn’t working.
Prising markets open for global agri-business is wiping out small farmers and
is a major cause of hunger. The deregulation of financial services through free
trade agreements impedes tough regulation of the financial sector, paving the
way for the next disastrous financial crisis. We need to break away from this
corporate driven agenda,” said Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian
parliament, who was in Brussels to support the launch of the Alternative Trade
Mandate.
The new 20-page mandate proposes that core
principles such as human and labour rights and environmental protection should
drive EU trade policy. On several areas, such as food, work, money and raw
materials, detailed proposals for change are outlined. One proposal is for the
EU to become more self-sufficient in protein and oil crops as alternatives to
imports of (genetically-modified) soybeans, palm oil and agro-fuels, which are
devastating for the environment and small farmers in the global south. The
mandate also calls on the EU to hold European corporations accountable for
human rights violations, environmental destruction, tax avoidance and tax
evasion elsewhere.
The mandate also proposes a new process for
initiating, negotiating and finalising trade and investment agreements, giving
national Parliaments and civil society a stronger role and thereby rolling back
policy-capture by big business.
“EU trade deals are negotiated behind closed
doors in the interests of a few rich corporations. The people who are affected
by these deals have never been asked what they really need. We want an open and
democratic process, controlled by the people of Europe and their elected
representatives, rather than unelected technocrats and corporate lobby groups,”
said Pia Eberhardt from Corporate Europe Observatory, a member of the
Alternative Trade Mandate Alliance. The proposals outlined in the Alternative Trade
Mandate were developed in a four-year process, with public workshops held all
over Europe and which engaged a wide range of civil society groups from both
within and outside the EU.
A seriesof papers with more detailed proposals on several pressing issues
accompanies the main text. The proposals will form the basis of an EU-wide
campaign to make trade and investment work for people and the environment,
which will first focus on the European elections next May, asking parliamentary
candidates to pledge support for the Alternative Trade Mandate. “At a time of
multiple global crises, the European Parliament needs MEPs who will stand up
for trade rules that work for people and the planet. We need MEPs who will
bring trade deals out of the shadows and into the light. We call on MEP
candidates to stand up for democratic trade and investment rules that serve
people, the economy and the environment at large – not just the profit
interests of a few,” said Amélie Canonne, co-ordinator of the Alternative Trade
Mandate Alliance.
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