Public Procurement in the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement - Limiting the future of local development

While several key elements of the procurement chapter of the EU-Mercosur agreement have either not been negotiated or have not yet been made public, what has been released has the potential to undermine fair and sustainable development programs throughout the Mercosur countries. Based on available information, if ratified, the EU-Mercosur agreement would:

• Permanently open important public procurement programs in the Mercosur to bids by large EU firms, which could undermine successful initiatives in Brazil and Argentina that have been used to reduce hunger and support family farmers and local economies
• Make requirements that public procurement projects benefit local hiring and development illegal under the agreement
• Pave the way for further opening, both through possible requirements to bind state and local governments and through increased pressure to join the WTO based Government Procurement Agreement

Read more factsheets on the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement here.