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Veblen | 17 September 2020
Beyond the Bolsonaro policy, it is the very content of the EU-Mercosur agreement that promises an environmental disaster
by Mathilde Dupré
The commission of experts has spoken: an annual increase in deforestation of 5% for 6 years but in reality of 25% according to the figure retained by the Veblen Institute and the FNH, facilitated entry into the European market of foodstuffs produced with pesticides banned in the EU, risk of weakening European environmental and health standards for very low economic gains, out of all proportion to the damage to the climate and biodiversity ... On these bases, and whoever the Brazilian president in office may be, France must block this agreement.
As the Commission of Experts in charge of assessing the ecological impacts of the draft trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries is due to issue its report on Friday 18 September, the Veblen Institute and the Nicolas Hulot Foundation solemnly call on France to demand its outright abandonment. The committee’s conclusions are indeed irrevocable: beyond Jair Bolsonaro’s policy, it is the very nature of the draft agreement to promote Mercosur meat exports in exchange for European cars, machinery and chemicals, without any environmental obligations, that will lead to a disaster for the climate and biodiversity.
European countries are already responsible for more than a third of global deforestation linked to trade in agricultural products. Just because of the increase in beef production foreseen in the agreement, deforestation in Mercosur could increase by at least 25% per year over the next six years. Indeed, the 5% figure put forward by the Commission only takes into account the area of deforestation necessary to raise the piece of sirloin (exported to Europe) and not the whole beast. And despite the EU ban on 27% of the 190 active ingredients authorised in Brazil, the agreement will further facilitate the entry of agricultural products treated with these banned pesticides into the EU market. These conclusions are broadly in line with the analyses carried out for several years by the Veblen Institute and the Nicolas Hulot Foundation.
If a trade agreement between these two regions of the world is to see the light of day, it must be rethought and built on completely different bases, compatible with the European Green Deal and the planetary boundaries. In particular, the reduction of trade barriers must be strictly conditional on compliance with a number of strict health and environmental criteria, as suggested in the report. And all provisions that could lead to the weakening of existing or developing standards must be removed.
– The Ambec Committee report in a nutshell :
1. Deforestation and biodiversity :
Explanation: The report estimates the increase in beef exports generated by the Agreement at 53,000 tonnes per year and specifies that there is also an estimate high at 98,000 tonnes, but that there is no consensus within the Commission. According to the low consensus assumption, this represents an increase in production area of about 3.6 million hectares. But the report also specifies that the meat exported will be mainly the so-called "noble" cuts, which represent 19.5% of a typical young Mercosur cattle carcass, and that the rest of the meat produced will be valorised on other, booming markets, particularly China. Most of the data therefore suggests that only a theoretical surface area of 700,000 hectares should be retained, i.e. 19.6% of the total corresponding to the "noble" cuts of the animals thus raised, a way of minimising the real impact on the environment.
2. Climate and GHG emissions
3) Diverging sanitary standards
4) Risk of weakening European standards
5) Insufficient health controls, which could be further reduced
This report is far from exhaustive and does not explore all the sensitive issues in detail. For example, the question of the impact on biodiversity of the expected increase in European pesticide exports (including pesticides banned in the EU) to Mercosur countries is not examined. Certain products such as soya or products from the extractive sector are not addressed. Nor does the report mention the human rights impacts of this agreement, which are documented in the work of the Veblen Institute and the FNH and many other NGOs.
The Veblen Institute’s work on this agreement ::
Juin 2019 : Open letter signed by more than 340 organisations calling on the European Union to stop trade negotiations with Brazil
Octobre 2019 : Contribution of the Veblen Institute and the FNH transmitted to LSE consulting and the European Commission on the draft interim sustainability impact assessment report of the agreement.
Nov 2019 : Analysis of the content of the agreement by the Veblen Institute and the FNH, A lose-lose agreement. Preliminary analysis of the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur
Juin 2020 : Filing of a complaint by the Veblen Institute, the Nicolas Hulot Foundation, Clientearth, Fern and the International Federation of Human Rights with the EU Ombudsman for the Commission’s failure to fulfil its legal obligation to ensure that this agreement will not lead to social, economic and environmental degradation or human rights violations.
Juillet 2020 : Opening of an investigation by the EU Ombudsman, following the complaint lodged by the 5 associations.
Juillet 2020 : New contribution from the Veblen Institute, ClientEarth, Conservation International and Fern sent to LSE Consulting and the European Commission on the shortcomings of the draft final report of the Sustainability Impact Assessment.
Timetable for the negotiations :
1999: Start of negotiations between the EU and the Mercosur countries.
2009: Publication of the first Sustainability Impact Assessment.
2010: Resumption of negotiations after a period of suspension and new impetus in 2016.
29 June 2019 : Announcement of the closure of the trade negotiations between the EU and the Mercosur countries at the G20 Summit in Japan. Emmanuel Macron describes the project as "a good trade agreement, good for our businesses and our jobs".
23 August 2019: On the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, Emmanuel Macron acknowledges that France has "a share of complicity" in the fires that are ravaging the Amazon and announces "that it will not sign Mercosur as it stands".
29 June 2020 : Statement by Emmanuel Macron before the Citizen’s Convention for the Climate: "That is why I have stopped the negotiations on Mercosur altogether, and the latest reports that have been submitted to us confirm me in this decision".
2 July 2020 : Statement by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, welcoming the finalisation of the negotiations of the agreement between the EU and Mercosur.
22 July 2020 : Publication of the draft Sustainability Impact Assessment report of LSE consulting