Brussels Parliament approves free trade agreement with the Andean countries

After years of debate, a conclusive majority in the Brussels Parliament today gave the final green light to approve the free trade agreement between the EU and Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. This approval was granted after former State Secretary Smet, with the support of the Minister-President, reached an important agreement with the European Commission, which was brought to a successful conclusion by State Secretary Persoons. That agreement stipulates that the outdated trade agreement will be renegotiated to include the latest human rights and sustainable development standards, including trade sanctions as a big stick. To be able to start that renegotiation, the treaty must first be formally ratified.

"Thanks to the perseverance of my predecessor Pascal Smet, we secured an agreement with the European Commission allowing the Brussels Parliament to ratify a trade agreement that had been blocked for years. This ratification is necessary to be able to modify and modernise the agreement afterwards. In this way, we can ensure that the social rights, labour rights and human rights of civil society in the countries concerned will be better respected", declares Ans Persoons.

Trade agreements to leverage sustainable development

Large parts of the trade agreement have already provisionally entered into force, except for the newest EU member state Croatia. A ratification is needed for final entry into force. Belgium is the last of the 27 EU member states to agree to this as the Brussels Region and the French Community caused a lot of opposition.

Key to this story are the trade and sustainable development (TSD) provisions through which the EU ties human rights and sustainability conditions to trade benefits. This TSD chapter in the Andean Agreement is outdated and not in line with the 2019 Brussels coalition agreement that wants better implementation and monitoring instruments. Moreover, the TSD chapter has since fallen short of the new standards required by the EU itself in new trade agreements following its May 2022 'TSD Review'.

Negotiations with the European Commission

At the initiative of then-State Secretary Pascal Smet, a dialogue was therefore initiated with the European Commission to obtain guarantees to modernise the agreement in terms of sustainable development.

After intensive exchanges by the Brussels Minister-President and the State Secretary responsible for trade, European Trade Commissioner Dombrovskis formally committed in January 2023 to initiating that renegotiation, which is only possible after ratification, by activating the review clause in the treaty. Not only will the sustainable development provisions be enforceable with trade sanctions; climate agreements and provisions on gender will also be included. Such modernisation of an existing trade agreement would be an absolute first.

Modernisation to be launched under Belgian EU presidency

State Secretary Persoons, at the request of the Brussels Parliament, will also pay close attention to ensuring that during the Belgian EU presidency the first concrete steps are taken for the new negotiations with the partner countries involved.

Timeline:

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