Before the end of 2025, the Council of the European Union is set to vote on the controversial trade agreement between the EU and the South American economic bloc Mercosur. The German federal government will then also have to make a decision – will it stand for a fair trade policy in the interests of future generations and a livable future for all, OR will its approval reinforce deforestation, exploitation, and environmental destruction in countries of the Global South and accelerate the climate crisis?

The undersigned organizations, alliances, and movements call on the German government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz to reject the EU-Mercosur trade agreement! The dangers posed by this agreement outweigh its supposed benefits. This is because:

At least 700,000 hectares of forest, including the Amazon rainforest, would be cleared to generate increased import quotas for beef, agrofuels, and other exports to the EU. The resulting CO2 emissions would be equivalent to Chile's annual emissions. The agreement would thus fuel the climate crisis and accelerate the destruction of sensitive ecosystems. This poses a disproportionate threat to the territories of Indigenous Peoples. Worse still, the newly negotiated compensation mechanism is not only an attack on the European Deforestation Directive, but also likely to undermine future environmental and climate protection measures and play human rights, climate protection, and economic development off against each other.

“The EU-Mercosur agreement guarantees neither effective labor rights nor environmental sustainability or sustainable development in the economic blocs.” Instead, companies are courted with simplified and discounted market access without binding regulation of their activities. For this reason, both the European Trade Union Confederation and its South American counterpart, the Coordinadora de Confederaciones Sindicales del Conor Sur (CCSCS), reject the agreement. In addition, the agreement sends a signal to the right-wing authoritarian governments of Mercosur in Argentina and Paraguay that their disregard for social human rights, democratic participation, and the violent suppression of protests are not a problem.

"An agreement that does not contain effective human rights guarantees will inevitably lead to more displacement, violence, and land grabbing in this political climate. In countries where authoritarian governments restrict democratic rights and suppress protests, indigenous activists are the first to be affected," warns Jan Königshausen, Indigenous Peoples' Advisor at the co-signatory human rights organization Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV).

The agreement also jeopardizes the health of people on both sides of the Atlantic. This is because it promotes agricultural monocultures in Mercosur that rely on the massive use of pesticides. These are often pesticides that are not approved in the EU due to their harmful effects on human health and the environment. In the last decade alone, pesticide use in Brazil has risen by over 78%. The rural population suffers from pesticide poisoning, contaminated drinking water, and extremely high cancer rates. The EU-Mercosur Agreement abolishes tariffs on pesticide imports into Mercosur. This benefits large chemical companies such as Bayer, BASF, and Alzchem—but not the people of Mercosur. European consumers would also be increasingly exposed to these highly harmful pesticides through re-imports. The EU already imports food from Brazil, among other countries, on which residues of highly harmful pesticides that are not approved here have been found. The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) also warns that the agreement is unlikely to provide adequate protection for consumers.

The trade agreement is an attack on small-scale and organic farming on both sides of the Atlantic, jeopardizes the supply of good and healthy food, and increases price pressure on farmers. The Working Group on Small-Scale Farming and the German Farmers' Association, as well as the European farmers' association COPA-COGECA, the European Milk Board, and La Via Campesina Europa have repeatedly spoken out against the EU-Mercosur agreement.

The signatory organizations call on the German federal government to vote for the future of the planet and against the EU-Mercosur trade agreement!

Follow the assessments of trade unions, environmental organizations, consumer protection associations, and representatives of the farming community. Say no to the EU-Mercosur agreement!

List of signatory organizations:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YABCBRpCMLU4i4lBCUSPTOqVX4IY1IMD5VPykC2Wf2Y/edit?gid=0#gid=0

This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at presse@gfbv.de.