PowerShift criticizes EU trade agreement with Colombia, Peru & Ecuador
Berlin, 30.10.: DThe Berlin-based non-governmental organization PowerShift criticizes the EU trade agreement with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, which will finally come into force this Friday, November 1.
Alessa Hartmann, trade expert at PowerShift, warns:
"The EU trade agreement with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador has already had serious consequences for people and the environment since 2012. It contributes to the climate crisis, threatens biodiversity in the affected countries and accelerates deforestation, especially in Colombia. This is also underlined by the European Commission's ex-post evaluation. The new EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains, due to enter into force at the end of 2025, could be a turning point. However, efforts are being made to dilute this regulation. It is crucial that it enters into force strongly. The trade agreement, on the other hand, is a step backwards and means that products such as palm oil, soya and cocoa continue to contribute to deforestation.”
Thomas Fritz, also a trade expert at PowerShift, also draws attention to the dangers of the agreement:
“The trade agreement with the Andean countries is an anachronism because it does not contain sanctions-based corporate due diligence obligations. Over the past two years, German and European energy companies' imports of hard coal from Colombia have increased massively, despite ongoing human rights violations and environmental damage caused by mines there. Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities have been displaced, rivers polluted and trade union rights violated. To this day, many sufferers are waiting in vain for redress and adequate compensation. Although the EU has benefited from Colombian coal imports for decades, the trade agreement does not include any commitments to financially support the transformation of the coalfields there. This is fatal, as coal companies are also trying to get rid of a large part of the post-mining costs in Colombia.”
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact:
- Alessa Hartmann, alessa.hartmann@power-shift.de, +49 (0)30 278 756 32
- Thomas Fritz, thomas.fritz@power-shift.de, +49 (0)30 275 937 38
Further information can be found here:
- EU – COLOMBIA, PERU & ECUADOR – Poverty booster or way out of poverty?
- ¡BASTA! – Episode 2: Experience I: the EU-Colombia-Peru-Ecuador Agreement
- Consequences of free trade with the EU – lessons learnt from Peru, Colombia and Ecuador
