Trade

Protest in front of the European Parliament in Brussels, with lots of activists holding banners saying

People before [corporate] profits.

International agreements should protect human rights and the environment, not big corporations.

Many current trade rules benefit big corporations and block the transition to sustainable economies and societies. They mainly aim to increase trade volumes and often consider environmental, social, human rights and health protections as ‘barriers’.

This model is aggravating economic insecurity and global inequality, leading to human rights violations, eroding democratic control, and setting us on a collision course with planetary boundaries.

We urgently need to radically revise our trade model. We are campaigning for alternatives to protect the climate, limit resource consumption, complete the transition to ecological and sustainable agriculture, and create an economy founded on principles of democracy and social justice.

At the moment, we are campaigning against the Energy Charter Treaty and the EU-Mercosur trade deal.

We have joined forces with more than 50 organisations from across Europe campaigning for trade that works for people and planet, as part of the European Trade Justice Coalition.

Focus

Stop the EU-Mercosur trade deal

The EU is close to finalising a climate-wrecking trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – known collectively as Mercosur. But there’s still time to stop it.

Stop the Energy Charter Treaty

The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a major obstacle to fast and effective action on the climate and environmental crisis. Our transformation to a green and fair society will become harder, slower and more expensive if we don’t stop it.