On the day when the European Union was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for its advancement of human rights and democracy, activists have questioned a trade deal that is about to be signed between the region, Colombia and Peru.
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is scheduled to be voted by the European Parliament next month.
However, trade unions on both sides of the Atlantic have indicated the number of crimes and violence against Colombian labour rights activists to oppose its ratification.
Since April 2011, 34 trade unionists have been assassinated and further 485 leaders have received death threats for defending labour rights in Colombia.
Yet, as it stands, the agreement with the EU doesn’t set up an action plan to address environmental and human rights protection before its approval.
According to the European Commission, once fully implemented “the trade deal will relieve EU exporters of €270 million in duties annually; it will further open up markets on both sides as well as increase the stability and predictability of the trading environment.”
However, several Latin American and European organisations, networks and communities have argued that the asymmetry between the economies in the two regions will make it extremely detrimental to the South American nations.
In a letter to the members of the European Parliament, the main international trade union organisations in Europe and the Americas have called for legally binding commitments to improve labour and human rights.
“These [provisions] are absent from the FTA and its Sustainable Development Charter, which is not subject to a meaningful dispute procedure,” indicated the document signed by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Global Unions.
The organisations state that in Peru workers also face legal hurdles in the free exercise of their rights.
Anti-union dismissals, disregard for collective agreements and bargaining rights are common practice in the country.
Some European corporate groups have celebrated the opportunities created by access to the markets in South America.
According to BusinessEurope, EU enterprises in the financial, construction and telecommunications sectors will find the deal particularly beneficial.
“If we want to reap the full benefits we must now focus on the implementation and enforcement of these and other trade agreements.
“We as Chambers stand ready to play an active role in this regard,” said Arnaldo Abruzzini, Secretary General of EuroChambers.
During a union meeting in Brussels this week, the main Colombian and Peruvian union confederations expressed their dismay to members of the European Parliament about the fact that workers were not consulted at any point during the negotiation process towards the deal.
A similar Free Trade Agreement was signed last year between the United States and Colombia, under the condition that a Labour Action Plan would take place.
But critics have argued that it fully resolved neither the grave violations of union freedoms nor the continuing violence and threats against unionists and human rights defenders.
