Aktiv werden gegen EU-Mercosur
Geht es nach der Europäischen Kommission, wird das EU-Mercosur Handelsabkommen noch dieses Jahr vom Rat der Europäischen Union und dem Europäischen Parlament ratifiziert. Das wollen wir verhindern. Seit Jahren sprechen […]
Flyer: 8 Gründe gegen das EU-Mercosur Handelsabkommen
Noch dieses Jahr will die deutsche Bundesregierung zusammen mit den 26 anderen Mitgliedsstaaten der Europäischen Union ein Handelsabkommen mit Argentinien, Brasilien, Uruguay und Paraguay unterzeichnen, das schwerwiegende Folgen für Mensch, […]
Koalitionsvertrag 2025: Die deutsche Handelspolitik zwischen Anspruch und Realität – Eine Analyse von PowerShift e.V
Die Herausforderungen der Klimakrise, wachsender globaler Ungleichheiten und ökologischer Zerstörung verlangen eine tiefgreifende Transformation unserer Wirtschafts- und Handelspolitik. Der Koalitionsvertrag der neuen Bundesregierung hätte die Chance geboten, klare Schritte in […]
Das Splitting des EU-Mercosur Abkommens: Ein undemokratischer Schachzug
Das geplante Handelsabkommen zwischen der EU und den Mercosur-Staaten betrifft 774 Millionen Menschen. Ende 2024 wurden die 25 Jahre währenden Verhandlungen abgeschlossen. Es steht massiv in der Kritik, da es […]
Briefing: Gefährlicher Präzedenzfall – Wie eine Schiedsgerichtsklage den deutschen Kohleausstieg gefährdet
Das öffentliche schweizerische Unternehmen Azienda Elettrica Ticinese (AET) verlangt vor einem internationalen Schiedsgericht eine Entschädigung für den deutschen Kohleausstieg. Das Unternehmen hält Anteile an einem deutschen Kohlekraftwerk, das wegen des […]
Webserie: EU & Mercosur – Liebe in Zeiten von Handelskrieg?
2025 ist in jeglicher Hinsicht bereits ein wildes Jahr für den internationalen Handel. Und in diesen turbulenten Zeiten wollen zwei der größten Wirtschaftsblöcke weltweit in den “heiligen Stand der Ehe” […]
Die Klimaauswirkungen des EU-Handelsabkommens mit Kolumbien, Peru und Ecuador
Das Handelsabkommen zwischen der EU und den Andenstaaten Kolumbien, Peru und Ecuador wurde als Instrument für nachhaltige Entwicklung und den Schutz von Umwelt- und Sozialstandards beworben. Doch unsere neue Studie […]
Infoseite: Zwischen Anspruch und Ausbeutung – Europas handelspolitische Strategie zur Rohstoffausbeutung
Europas handelspolitische Strategie zur Rohstoffausbeutung
Infoposter: Extract! Extract! Extract! Mehr Rohstoffausbeutung, weniger globale Gerechtigkeit
Die Energie- und Mobilitätswende, die Digitalisierung, aber auch strategisch wichtige Bereiche für die Europäische Union (EU) wie Raumfahrt und Militär sind in ihrer Produktion sehr materialintensiv. Der Zugang zu Rohstoffen […]
Infoposter: Kohlenstoffbomben entschärfen!
Kohlenstoffbomben entschärfen! Was eine klimagerechte Handelspolitik dafür tun müsste Statt die Produktion von Kohle, Öl und Gas deutlich zu reduzieren, planen zahlreiche Regierungen deren Steigerung. Das animiniert diverse Banken und […]
Toxic Double Standards – How Europe sells products deemed too dangerous for Europeans to the rest of the world
More than 100 non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International, the Children's Rights International Network and Greenpeace, have called on the European Union to address the loopholes they have described as ‘hypocritical, cruel, unfair and intolerable’.
Web series: ¡BASTA! – Feminist voices on EU trade agreements with Latin America
Last year, in a joint project with organisations from Argentina and Brazil, we conducted studies on the impact of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement on women and women-readers. [...]
Climate check Trade policy – How climate-friendly is European trade policy?
Summary Introduction EU foreign trade: Contribution to climate change trade agreements: Drivers of global warming Multilateral trade policy: inconsistent Unilateral trading instruments: Not always climate-friendly European foreign investment: Lack of guidance Conclusion: Climate protection needs cooperation Endnotes
For a fair EU trade policy! Send your candidate an email
European trade and investment agreements are still not in line with the EU's climate and sustainable development goals. Trade policy and the European Green Deal are in stark contradiction [...]
Case study: CETA assessment of the climate impact of trade policies and agreements
Introduction Methodology EU-Canada trade in goods Climate policy rules, institutions and decisions Committees set up under CETA and bilateral dialogues Investments: Flows, Stocks and Protection Recommendations
Climate check trade policy
How climate-friendly is European trade policy? Introduction The European Union's trade policy contributes significantly to climate change. In particular, their import-related emissions are considerable: The EU [...]
Travel guide: Partnership at eye level? – The EU-Chile Trade and Investment Agreement
In order to further deepen trade between the EU and resource-rich Chile and, above all, to further promote trade in raw materials and agricultural products, the economic partners [...]
Travel guide: Globally just green transformation? The Role of Trade Agreements in European Raw Materials Security
In order to switch energy supply, transport and industry to propulsion and the supply of renewable energies, and thus advance the green transformation envisaged in the European Green Deal, the EU needs many [...]
Travel guide: Unsafe work, job loss and poverty – the impact of the EU-Mercosur agreement on women
Unsafe work, job loss and poverty – women in particular are negatively affected by the impact of neoliberal trade agreements. The agreement between the EU and the four South American countries of Mercosur is [...]
CETA: Greenwashing at the expense of democracy and the environment
CETA: Greenwashing at the expense of democracy and the environment Despite the high number of social and environmental crises, the EU Commission and the Federal Government are sticking to a trade policy that [...]
Mythbuster on the EU-Mercosur poison treaty
EU Mercosur: The EU-Mercosur trade agreement protects the rainforest, it fights hunger, it promotes people's prosperity! Since Lula was elected as the new president of Brazil, the traffic light coalition has moved the controversial [...]
Consequences of the EU withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty
The EU Commission recommends the withdrawal of the EU from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The question arises: What will happen to the EU member states that remain in the Energy Charter Treaty? We have a [...]
Opinion on ‘Splitting’ in the EU-Mercosur Agreement
The European Commission is currently considering options regarding the "legal basis" of the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement. On the table is a procedural trick to circumvent the resistance of a number of EU Member States and their parliaments: [...]
Infoposter “For Export Only”
Consequences of EU trade agreements for smallholder agriculture in Latin America In the course of 2023, the modernised EU free trade agreements with Mexico and Chile could be signed, including the signing of the [...]
Regionalisation of agriculture
The impact of EU trade agreements on the regionalisation of agriculture in Berlin-Brandenburg The travel guide "Lokal. Regional. Totally awesome! - Effects of trade agreements on the regionalisation of agriculture in Berlin-Brandenburg" she [...]
CETA advice: Group lawsuits against energy transition still possible
In its trade policy agenda, the German government agreed at the end of June to ratify the EU trade agreement with Canada (CETA) as soon as possible – on one condition: An interpretation should be given before [...]
10 things you should know about CETA
In autumn 2022, the German Bundestag is expected to vote on whether the EU-Canada agreement CETA should enter into full force. If this happens, international investors can sue states if they [...]
Reform of the Energy Charter Treaty keeps climate killers alive
On 24 June 2022, a reform proposal of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) was agreed. The ECT is an international trade agreement that protects foreign investors in the energy sector. Our analysis shows that climate-damaging investments [...]
Joint statement against CETA
Let's stop the ratification of CETA! A joint statement by German and Canadian civil society on the occasion of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Canada and in the run-up to the announced ratification of the trade and [...]
Investment protection treaties must not further impede climate protection
Following the arbitration actions by RWE and Uniper against the Dutch coal phase-out, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) has come under heavy criticism. Now his reform is entering its final phase: [...]
Energy Charter Treaty: How it drove up the costs of the German coal phase-out
This briefing highlights the role played by the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in the German coal phase-out. It shows that the ECT has influenced the coal phase-out in two important ways: (1) In order to ensure [...]
Opinion: CETA Ratification Act
Statement on the draft of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) for a CETA ratification law Preliminary remark: An association participation with a feedback period of less than 23 hours does not allow a comprehensive and detailed opinion and is [...]
Mobility turnaround slowed down. The EU-Mercosur Agreement and the car industry
The study, published by a broad coalition of civil society organisations, entitled ‘Mobility transition slowed down. The EU-Mercosur Agreement and the Auto Industry" examines the relationship of the envisaged EU Association Agreement with Mercosur – the Union of States [...]
Energy Charter Treaty in Spain: From solar dream to legal nightmare
In the last 10 years, there have been more investment arbitrations pending in Spain than in any other country. It has received a total of 51 lawsuits, 27 of which have already been decided, 21 of which [...]
Investment protection contracts are major hurdles to climate protection
The OECD conducted a consultation on investment protection contracts and climate change mitigation in March 2022, in which PowerShift also participated. In the consultation letter, we show why investment protection is a major [...]
Reform of the Energy Charter Treaty fails to meet EU objectives
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is a trade and investment agreement between European and Asian countries that protects investments in the energy sector. Under the ECT, fossil corporations can impose billions of dollars on governments before private arbitration tribunals.
Politically controversial, weak content: The China-EU Investment Agreement
The investment agreement between China and the EU is highly controversial – and its future uncertain. Whether and when it will be ratified by the European Parliament is unclear. Nevertheless, [...]
ECJ versus Energy Charter Treaty
Will Europe's highest court be able to restrict corporate litigation rights? On 2 September, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) announced that arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty between investors from the EU and EU Member States [...]
Travel guide: EU – Colombia, Peru & Ecuador
Poverty increase or a way out of poverty? A trade agreement has been in place between the EU and Peru, Colombia, since 2013. Ecuador acceded to the agreement in 2017. PowerShift, in cooperation with civil society [...]
Expensive to buy: How the Energy Charter Treaty drove up the costs of Germany's lignite phase-out
The Energy Charter Treaty has made it more difficult and more expensive for Germany to phase out coal. This is the result of a briefing that PowerShift is publishing today together with eight other civil society organisations and which was published on [...]
Investor protection and corporate complaints despite climate crisis?
CETA, ECT and the environment are not green PowerShift has today published a new fact sheet that shows Canadian investments in fossil fuel projects in the EU and thus makes it clear that [...]
Stopping the Energy Charter Treaty - Saving the energy transition
Der Energiecharta-Vertrag gefährdet den Kampf gegen die Klimakrise und für eine saubere Energiewende.
Infographic: Paraguay - The Forgotten Land of Mercosur
The EU is sticking to the trade agreement with the Mercosur states Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay - despite all the criticism and the foreseeable consequences of the agreement for man and nature, climate [...]
Travel guide: EU-Mexico – All power to...? investors.
An introduction to the EU-Mexico trade agreement The renewed EU-Mexico trade agreement is expected to be the first to be voted on in the EU Council and European Parliament in 2021. The EU is looking [...]
Dispelling myths surrounding the Energy Charter Treaty – A guide to reasoning
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), an investment agreement for the energy sector, has recently come into the spotlight. No other contract has been used so often by investors [...]
Extractivism Reloaded – commodity policy in Latin America since the boom from 2003
At the beginning of the 2000s, Latin America showed that things could be different: Starting from Venezuela, ‘progressive’ governments were elected in various countries and the so-called ‘Left Decade’ heralded. According to [...]
Factsheet: Global – Regional – it doesn’t matter?
The milk value chain and considerations for solidarity-based regionalisation The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic underscores new dimensions in the issue of global supply chains and international trade policy. Civil society actors are actively working on proposals [...]
Clean up myths about the Energy Charter Treaty
This week, the member states of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) will hold their annual conference and evaluate the ongoing attempts to reform the controversial agreement. Amid growing concern that the ECT [...]
Busting myths around the Energy Charter Treaty
A guide for concerned citizens, activists, journalists and policy makers The Energy Charter Treaty, an investment agreement for the energy sector, has recently been in the spotlight. No other treaty [...]
Toxic business – with the EU-Mercosur agreement
More pesticides, less rainforest and more sick people – these are the imminent consequences of the EU's trade agreement with the four Mercosur countries: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. With the agreement [...]
Highly dangerous pesticides for South America – the EU-Mercosur Agreement
https://youtu.be/-NnmVJvPdJo One of the consequences of the controversial EU-Mercosur agreement would be the increase in exports of highly dangerous pesticides from the EU to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - pesticides that are partly [...]
Travel guide: EU Mercosur: Ahead of the (climate) crisis
The travel guide "EU-Mercosur: Forward into the (climate) crisis" leads to the most popular destinations of European products, destroying industries in Mercosur and further heating the climate. Come with us on [...]
Accelerators - The EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement
Das geplante Handelsabkommen zwischen der EU und den Mercosur-Staaten Lateinamerikas wird die Vernichtung des Amazonas-Regenwaldes beschleunigen. Viehzucht ist schon heute einer der größten Treiber von Brandrodung und Abholzung im Amazonas. […]
The Energy Charter Treaty – Climate action in the dock
How does the Energy Charter Treaty, the secret weapon of the energy industry against climate policy, work and how are countries of the Global South made to join the treaty with false promises? PowerShift has a [...]
Travel guide: EU-Mercosur - A toxic agreement
The "Travel guide: EU-Mercosur - a toxic agreement" leads to the most popular destinations of pesticides produced in Germany, in this case in the four Mercosur states: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The [...]
Strengthening human rights and environmental protection through raw material chapters
How trade agreements could strengthen human rights and environmental protection in the raw materials sector Environmental degradation and human rights violations are commonplace in the extraction of raw materials. Nevertheless, the European Union's trade treaties are exclusively [...]
Integrating environmental and climate protection into trade agreements
How trade agreements contribute to a more sustainable global economy could in many cases jeopardise ambitious environmental and climate protection. But that doesn't have to be the case. A variety of proposals exist, such as trade agreements [...]
Stumbling trap for climate protection
How the Energy Charter Treaty Endangers Ambitious Climate Policy To Limit Global Temperature Rise, It Is Necessary to Reach Over 80 Countries% to keep the known reserves of fossil fuels in the ground. However, companies continue to invest [...]
Analysis of the Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur
On 28. In June 2019, after 20 years of negotiations, the European Union and the Mercosur countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay [...]
Supply chain responsibility: China's Role in Debate and Standard-Setting
The debate on binding human rights and environmental protection along the entire supply chain has gained momentum. Internationally, as well as in Germany, legal regulations are being debated. In the dispute comes a [...]
60 years of bilateral investment protection – a ticking time bomb
Germany's bilateral investment agreements under the scrutiny of corporate lawmakers stand in the way of a progressive climate policy and endanger environmental and consumer protection. A large proportion of corporate lawsuits against states are based on bilateral investment treaties (BITs/BITs).
When the dead are resurrected
As the EU tries to breathe new life into investment protection, corporations can sue states before private arbitration tribunals if they miss out on profits, for example, through health regulations or climate protection laws. An unfair system against the [...]
EU Mercosur: Attack on climate protection and human rights
The consequences of the EU Association Agreement with Mercosur for people and the environment at the end of June, the negotiators of the EU and Mercosur announced a political agreement that will mark the imminent end of the [...]
Can trade policy protect the environment?
The sustainability chapters in EU trade agreements For many years, consumer protection organisations, environmental associations and trade unions, as well as policy makers, have criticised the EU's trade policy for undermining its environmental commitments. In response to these [...]
Regulatory cooperation in CETA
Danger to the environment and consumers? Regulatory cooperation is an important part of the EU's new free trade agreements. Among other things, it is part of the agreement between Canada and the EU, the Comprehensive Economic [...]
Environmental protection in the sustainability chapters of EU trade agreements
The EU wants to make its trade policy more environmentally and climate-friendly with so-called sustainability chapters. But does it work? Thomas Fritz doubts the effectiveness of the sustainability chapters in this study. Sustainability chapter [...]
New chapters on raw materials in EU trade agreements – a stocktaking exercise
Impact on the environment, human rights and economic development With new chapters on raw materials and energy, the EU Commission wants to ensure the best possible access to these important imported goods for European companies. In the meantime [...]
Human rights on the siding
The European Union has negotiated a free trade and investment protection agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in recent years. The two contracts are based on [...]
International Regulatory Cooperation and the Common Good
The EU's trade agreement with Canada (CETA) is one of the first EU agreements to include an extensive chapter on regulatory cooperation. Critical voices warn that regulatory cooperation is a gateway to deregulation and the lowering of environmental and consumer protection standards.
With corporate lawsuits against environmental protection
What do trade policy and environmental protection have to do with each other? More than you think, because trade agreements lay the foundations for billion-dollar corporate lawsuits against environmental protection. These lawsuits are also conducted under the name ISDS (Investor State Dispute Settlement) and give investors far-reaching special rights as well as access to parallel justice.
No new negotiations with old TTIP topics!
Lobbycontrol and PowerShift have jointly published an initial analysis of the draft mandates for regulatory cooperation, which is available for download in English.
Under pressure: With corporate lawsuits against environmental protection
PowerShift, together with the Environment and Development Forum, Campact, BUND, AbL and attac, has published a new case study in which we examine the impact of corporate lawsuits on environmental legislation and outline examples of various lawsuits.
Trade Agreement with Japan: Is Fukusushi at risk?
Volume 151 of Political Ecology deals with Asia. This also includes an article by PowerShift trade expert Alessa Hartmann on the trade agreement between Japan and Europe. An order option for the entire publication [...]
EU trade policy and the Global South
EPAs, ASEAN and TiSA: Requirements for trade policy reform from a development perspective In this new publication, Thomas Fritz explores a side of EU trade policy that has so far been discussed in the discussion on CETA.
CETA: Risks and side effects
CETA and Public Health We are pleased that the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) has added an additional chapter to our main publication "Making Sense of CETA: Read and understand CETA" by [...]
Overexploitation in the raw materials sector
How corporations enforce their interests with investor lawsuits In the newly published factsheet: "Predation in the raw materials sector - how corporations enforce their interests with investor lawsuits" is all about investors suing states. [...]
For human rights regulation of the global economy
Today, the Treaty Alliance Germany published a position paper on the UN Treaty Process on Transnational Corporations and Enterprises. The Treaty Alliance Germany is an association [...]
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