A new EU-Latin America trade relationship for the 21st Century
Conference in the European Parliament parallel to the EU-CELAC summit

17 July 2023 | 9h-14h

European Parliament, Brussels with hybrid participation
Spaak 1A2, Rue Wiertz 60, 1047 Bruxelles, Belgium

 

 

During the EU-CELAC summit on the 17th and 18th of July in Brussels, heads of governments from Latin America, the Caribbean and the EU will get together to discuss and “make progress” on controversial trade agreements such as the one with Mexico, Chile and the MERCOSUR, among other issues. These agreements, especially the one with the four MERCOSUR countries, have been criticized for their impacts on human rights, virgin forest, jobs, the climate and biodiversity and animal welfare.

During this half-day conference, representatives of civil society organizations, social movements, farmers organizations, workers unions and members of the European Parliament as well as parliamentarians and governmental representatives from Latin American countries will get together to evaluate lessons learned from more than 20 years of trade agreements between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean and outline a new trade relationship for the 21st century.

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PROGRAMME
(may be subject to change)

9.00-9.15 – Hello and Housekeeping rules

PANEL 1: 9:15 – 10:45 am “+20 years of EU trade and investment agreements in Latin America and the Caribbean – lessons learned”
Ana Romero, executive coordinator of RedGe (Perú)
Andrea Sato, researcher at Fundación Sol (Chile)
Ignacio Roman Morales, professor in economics at Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (Mexico)
Gabriel Casnati, Tax, Trade and Digitalization Coordinator at International Public Services (Brazil)
and MEPs and parliamentarians:

Thomas Waitz; Greens/EFA (Austria)
Jennifer Pedraza, member of parliament, Dignidad (Colombia)
Nilto Tatto, Federal Deputy, PT-SP (Brazil)

PANEL 2: 11:00 – 12:30 am “EU-Mercosur – a toxic trade agreement?”
Jeronim Capaldo, economist at UNCTAD and Senior Scholar at Boston University’s GDP Center (USA/Switzerland)

Kretã Kaingang, executive coordinator of Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Brazil)
Inés Franceschelli, director of Heñói (Paraguay)
Julio Durval Fuentes, President of Confederación Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Trabajadores Estatales (Argentina)
Raiara Pires, director of Anti-Mining-Movement MAM (Brazil)

and MEPs and Latin American parliamentarians:
Manon Aubry, The Left (France)
Marisa Matias, The Left (Portugal)
Fernanda Melchiona, member of the parliament, PSOL (Brazil)

12:30 – 13.00 lunch break

PANEL 3: 13.00 – 13.45 The future we want – Alternatives to the current trade regime
Morgan Ody, General Coordinator of La Vía Campesina (France)
Emilio Tellez, member of the political leadership of National Coordination of Consumers in Resistance, CONUR (Mexico)
Quintino Marques Severo, Deputy Secretary of International Relations of Central Única dos Trabalhadores Brazil and General Secretary of the Coordination of the Confederation of Labour Unions of the Cono Sur (Brazil)
and MEPs and Latin American parliamentarians:

Christophe Clergeau, S&D (France)
Tilly Metz, the Greens/EFA (Luxembourg)
Duda Salabert, Federal Deputy, PDT-MG (Brazil)
Helmut Scholz, The Left (Germany)

13.45-14.00 Closing remarks by Miguel Urbán, The Left (Spain) and civil society representatives

 

The conference is co-hosted by MEPs from The Greens/EFA, The Left, S&D and by the following more than 40 civil society organizations from Latin America and the EU: Aitec, Amigos de la Tierra América Latina y el Caribe (ATALC), Amigos da Terra Brasil, AndersHandeln Österreich, Handel Anders! coalitie, Argentina Mejor sin TLC, ATTAC Austria, ATTAC France, Both Ends, Bread for all., CAN Europe, Chile Mejor sin TLC, CNCD-11.11.11, 11.11.11 – Coalition for International Solidarity, collectif Stop CETA-Mercosur, Contraf Brasil CUT, DECA, EQUIPO PUEBLO, Ecologistas en Acción, EEB, Entraide & Fraternité, Entrepueblos, Eurogroup for Animals, European Coordination Via Campesina, European Trade Justice Coalition (S2B logo), FASE, FERN, FDCL-Center for Research and Documentation Chile-Latin America, Frente Brasileira contra os acordos Mercosul-UE e Mercosul-EFTA, Friends of the Earth Europe, Fundación Sol, Heñói Centro de Estudios, INESC, Internacional de Servicios Públicos, Jornada Continental por la Democracia y contra el neoliberalismo, Jubileo Sur/Américas y Jubileu Sul Brasil, Netzwerk Gerechter Welthandel, PowerShift e.V. , REBRIP – Rede brasilera pela integracao dos povos, RedGe Peru, SOBREVIVENCIA, Amigos de la Tierra Paraguay, SOMO, Taula per Mèxic, Transnational Institute, TROCA, Umweltinstitut München, Un Salto de Vida, WIDE+