BRUSSELS: As the European Union looks forward to a fresh start with the United States under a new president, it is riddled with doubts over another transatlantic relationship.

A trade pact struck in 2019 with the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay after two decades of talks promised to be the EU’s largest deal, with the removal of 4 billion euros (US$4.8 billion) of import tariffs on its products.

But two years later, it is unclear when – or whether – it will enter force due to Europe‘s concerns over Amazon deforestation and scepticism about Brazil’s commitment to tackling climate change under President Jair Bolsonaro.

The doubts are amplified by a new EU trade strategy unveiled in February that says would-be partners of the world’s richest trade bloc should uphold standards on the environment and labour rights.

While few noticed when the EU began talks with Mercosur in 1999, scrutiny of trade deals has since intensified, particularly after the bloc launched Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the United States in 2013, drawing mass protests.

The EU seeks greater cooperation with the United States on trade now U.S. President Joe Biden has replaced Donald Trump, but TTIP talks, suspended in 2016, will not be revived.

The Mercosur saga is being closely watched by other potential partners, aware that an investment accord agreed with China in December also faces close inspection.

“Trade is hard enough as it is. These extra issues just make it more difficult for the EU to do deals with anyone else,” said David Henig, a director at pro-free trade think tank ECIPE.

Apart from Australia and New Zealand, there were no “easy deals” left on the horizon for the EU, Henig said, noting potentially tough negotiations to come with ASEAN countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines.

AUSTRIA’S “NO TO MERCOSUR”

Portugal, with close ties to South America, made concluding the deal a priority of its presidency of EU affairs in the first half of 2021, saying Europe’s credibility was at stake.

A trade accord needs backing from the European Parliament and EU members to enter force and far from all are convinced.

France and Ireland, both beef producers wary of meat imports, threatened to block the deal months after it was agreed, as fires ripped through Brazil’s rainforest.

Austria has since taken the lead. “No to Mercosur” is written into its new government accord and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler, a Green, wrote to Portugal’s prime minister this month, saying Austria would “do its utmost” to oppose the deal.

Brazil’s agriculture minister Tereza Cristina Dias and the vice president Hamilton Mourao say environmental concerns are a mask for European protectionism. But both sides recognise the agreement will not pass in its current form.

Brazil, the fifth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, has aggressive long-term plans to cut emissions and curb deforestation, but Bolsonaro’s weakening of environmental enforcement has shaken confidence they can be reached.

Critics say 15 pages in the existing Mercosur text on labour and the environment lack teeth. The European Commission now proposes securing clearer commitments.

It won broad support from EU countries for the idea this month. Mercosur countries say they are awaiting a text on climate change and deforestation.

One Mercosur diplomat, asking not to be named, cautioned it should be balanced, not just list EU demands.

FRANCE, BRAZIL ELECTIONS IN 2022

The European Parliament wants a commitment to monitoring and enforcement of universal standards and clear consequences for violations.

“Without this, then it would be problematic. There are some critical voices in more or less every political group,” Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament’s trade committee, said.

The parliament rejected a multi-country anti-counterfeiting trade agreement on counterfeiting in 2012, but Lange said the parliament preferred to improve than to reject deals.

“It’s now up to the negotiation process to find a solution.”

What awaits are renewed talks with an unclear end date.

French Trade Minister Frank Riester has said France wants, for example, to see what Brazil will do at the United Nations climate change conference in November, giving France the chance to push the deal in early 2022 when it has the EU presidency.

However, that would coincide with French President Emmanuel Macron‘s campaign for re-election in a potentially tight race, in which a Mercosur deal could cost him support.

Some advise waiting even further into next year, with Brazil’s presidential election due in October.

A diplomat of one would-be partner said the Mercosur experience had shown the European Union had become a challenging partner with which to do a trade deal. The lesson drawn was to try to resolve all issues up front to avoid being dragged into a second round of “quasi-negotiations”.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Jake Spring and Anthony Boadle in Brasilia, Francois Murphy in Vienna; Editing by Mark John and Barbara Lewis)

The family-based criminal group was forcing its victims to prostitute themselves on the streets of Girona in Spain

On 9 March, Europol supported the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and the Service of Countering Organised Criminality Giurgiu within the Romanian Police (Poliția Română) in a hit against an organised crime group involved in sexual exploitation. 

The suspects belonged to a family-based criminal group composed of Romanian nationals. They recruited the victims from Romania, luring them to Spain with the so-called ‘loverboy method’. Once the victims reached Girona, the members of the criminal gang forced them into prostitution on the streets of the Spanish city. The victims endured harsh living conditions, cold and hunger. Some of them were forced to prostitute themselves while pregnant and at high risk of being infected by COVID in the current pandemic. To prove their ‘ownership’ over the victims, the criminal gang tattooed them. The suspects collected the money from the sexual exploitation and invested it in high-end vehicles, real estate, luxury goods and drugs. During the action day, officers in Romania discovered pornographic material including content depicting the sexual abuse of a minor. 

The action day on 9 March 2021 led also to:

• 16 house searches (2 in Spain and 14 in Romania)
• 19 arrests (8 in Spain and 11 in Romania)
• 18 victims safeguarded (7 in Spain and 11 in Romania)
• Seizures include phones and stolen goods, including jewellery worth some €35 000.                             

Europol facilitated the information exchange and provided analytical support. During the action day, Europol hosted a virtual command post to coordinate the activities. Europol also deployed an expert to Spain to cross-check operational information in real-time against Europol’s databases and to provide technical support with phone extraction capabilities. 
 

In 2010 the European Union set up a four-year Policy Cycle to ensure greater continuity in the fight against serious international and organised crime. In 2017 the Council of the EU decided to continue the EU Policy Cycle for the 2018 – 2021 period. It aims to tackle the most significant threats posed by organised and serious international crime to the EU. This is achieved by improving and strengthening cooperation between the relevant services of EU Member States, institutions and agencies, as well as non-EU countries and organisations, including the private sector where relevant. Human trafficking is one of the priorities for the Policy Cycle.

  <div class="eh-ribbon">

      Trusted News Since 1995

    <span class="prof not-if-mobile-w820">A service for political professionals</span>
    <span class="not-if-mobile-w820">·</span>
    <span class="date">Saturday, March 20, 2021</span>
    <span class="not-if-mobile-w430">
      ·
      <a class="article_live_counter" href="/live_feed">537,217,976</a>
      Articles
    </span>
    <span class="not-if-mobile-w550">
      ·
      3+ Million Readers
    </span>
  </div>
</header>

<footer>
  <div class="sitemap">
    <h2 class="subheading-osc g_roboto">News Monitoring and Press Release Distribution Tools</h2>
    <div class="row-fluid">
      <div class="span3">
        <section>
          <h3>News Topics</h3>

        </section>
        <section>
          <h3>Newsletters</h3>

        </section>
      </div>
      <div class="span3">
        <section>
          <h3>Press Releases</h3>

        </section>
        <section>
          <h3>Events &amp; Conferences</h3>

        </section>
      </div>
      <div class="span3">
        <section>
          <h3>RSS Feeds</h3>

        </section>
        <section>
          <h3>Other Services</h3>

        </section>
      </div>
      <div class="span3">
        <section>
          <h3>Questions?</h3>

        </section>
        <br/><section>

        </section>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</footer>









<!--[if lt IE 9]>
<script src="/js/excanvas.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<![endif]-->



<!-- Start Alexa Certify Javascript -->

<noscript/>
<!-- End Alexa Certify Javascript -->
<!--[if IE 7]>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/js/json2.js"></script>
<![endif]-->

Concrete proposals were handed to the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans by high school students from all over Europe, who took part in a virtual Youth Summit on Climate organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 18-19 March 2021.

Young Europeans have a say in the EU’s future: without your calls for action the European Green deal would not have been here , said Mr Timmermans welcoming the event Your Europe your say 2021. I am really impressed at your in-depth understanding of the climate change problem and at the way you presented your proposals to me, this is the way to live, understand each other, it’s extremely difficult to hate a person that you can understand, he concluded.

After two days of lively virtual discussions and debates, over 234 students aged 16-18 participating in #YEYS2021 developed concrete recommendations, which they presented during a final plenary session.

The students had to wear the hat of a stakeholder group in a simulation of a United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) and work together with other groups to create a plan to limit global warming to safe levels of well below 1.5º C by the end of the century. The groups represented real sectors and industries, whose activities and advocacy influence global warming.

The proposals included:

• Planting city trees and installing vertical gardens
• “Ecological-Manhattan-Project” for the EU, investing vast amounts in new technologies
• Investing in more education for the general public
• Implementing tailor-made policies that respond to each country’s specific circumstances
• Supporting afforestation as one of the most efficient long-term solutions in carbon removal
• Introducing hydrogen and biogas while phasing out fossil fuels
• Closing the gap between developed and developing nations

The final plan created by the young Europeans predicted a temperature increase of +1.4°C by 2100, thus reaching the goal of the exercise, and was presented by eight students.

Students were welcomed by Christa Schweng, President of the EESC, who said: I am full of hope for the future of Europe and confident that the next European generation is in good hands. We need a green transition to a green economy that leaves no one behind. To achieve this, we need active citizens. This starts with involving young people. Cillian Lohan, Vice-President of the EESC in charge of communication, closed the event with these remarks: I hope the experience of YEYS has given you the desire to be active citizens, we need your participation for democracy to be strong. The youth movement has shown that change can come from the streets. Today we help those demands for more action to resonate in the corridors of power.

During the event, the students had the opportunity to share their ideas and views with different guests, such as the Belgian climate activists Anuna de Wever and Adelaide Charlier; Samuel Masse, President of the European Council of Young Farmers; and Ska Keller, Co-President of the Greens/European Free Alliance Group at the European Parliament, who said: We are not inventing the wheel; there is a lot of research! We know what procedures to adopt and implement at national level! The Climate Law is a very important step! This is really thanks to the outside pressure and youth engagement.

Background:
After its cancellation due to the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, the 2021 Committee’s flagship event for young people selected 33 schools, one from each of the 27 EU Member States and five candidate countries (Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and one from the UK.

Through this initiative, the EESC aims to ensure that the views, experiences and ideas of the younger generation are taken on board in EU policy-making.

Further details about YEYS 2021 are available on the event’s official page.