Description
The Mercosur-European Union (EU) agreement negotiated in 2019 has been under discussion for more than 20 years. If approved, it will be one of the world's largest free trade and investment areas. It will involve two large political and economic blocs with 780 million inhabitants and 25% of the world's GDP (Brussels, 2019). Europe is the second main destination for Mercosur's agricultural exports, it is the main owner of FDI stock in the region, and concentrates an important share of imports of goods (Brussels, 2019; LSE, 2020). To come into force, the agreement needs to be approved by all 27 member states and the European Parliament, as well as by the founding member states of Mercosur.
Despite that apparent advantage, there was a lot of internal resistance in Europe during the negotiation process and, since then, there has been a strong movement against ratification by a broad coalition of agricultural and social organisations. Their demand: a new start for trade policy with fair prices and protection of human rights and the environment (Anders, 2021, p.17).
The purpose of this project is to analyse the positions of the British and French labour movements on the Mercosur – EU agreement and explore if and to what extent they are part of this wider movement of resistance. In more detail, the question is, therefore, should this scenario of resistance and criticism of the agreement with Mercosur be understood as a European reaction to Bolsonaro’s government and its policy-making? Or is it linked to a strong reaction against neo-liberal free trade in line with a new compromise inside the EU and UK around sustainability?
The hypothesis is that there are difficulties with the ratification of the Mercosur - EU agreement due to disputes over neo-liberal free trade inside the EU, which became stronger with the sustainability compromise, especially the European Green Deal. In more detail, I am interested in understanding how French and British workers and movements articulated themselves and clashed or are coming together with the bourgeoisie and workers of the Southern Cone. There may be differences between the sectors that already have their companies installed in the Southern Cone (automobile and chemical), the sectors that are expanding their investments (energy and infrastructure), and the sectors that compete with the products exported by Mercosur (food and textiles), which would involve small farmers, environmental movements, and trade unions, etc.
France is an ideal case study due to its importance inside the EU, but also due to the widespread and open contestation of FTAs inside the country. The UK is an excellent control case. Does the British labour movement view the EU - Mercosur FTA as problematic and is, therefore, relieved to be outside the EU and no longer directly affected, or is it concerned about being left out and, therefore, missing out on assumed positive benefits?
Studies on transnational activism of trade unionism have focused attention on three levels: the intra-union level focusing on debates and strategies and organising and mobilising; the extra-union dealing with the relationship with governments, international organisations and other institutions; and the union-plus level focusing on alliances with other social sectors and other countries or regions (Zajak, 2014). This project will try to understand both the extra-union and the union plus levels through an investigation of the British and French labour movements broadly defined.
