Trade Differently!

Today, on the 2nd of April, activists from Africa and Europe are staging a protest action in front of the European Parliament in Brussels to make the voices of the poor and marginalised citizens heard. Holding banners and chanting slogans to the beat of djembe drums, they asked the African and European governments to prioritise peoples’ rights and interest in their trade deals and particularly, in the EU trade and development policies with Africa. Why do they protest at this particular moment and what is Burghard Ilge of Both ENDS doing there?

On 23 May, the Netherlands celebrates 60 years of bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The first BIT was signed with Tunisia in 1963. These treaties were intended to make an important contribution to protecting foreign investments by Dutch companies. A study by SOMO, Both ENDS and the Transnational Institute (TNI), however, shows that in practice they mainly give multinationals a powerful instrument that has far-reaching consequences people and the environment worldwide.

The government of Kenya has officially terminated its bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the Netherlands, marking a significant win for economic justice and environmental protection. Kenya’s decision reflects a growing global trend of rethinking outdated treaties that often prioritize corporate interests over public welfare. The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development recently confirmed that Kenya unilaterally ended the treaty in December 2023, rendering it inoperative from 11 June 2024. Kenya now joins South Africa, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso as the fourth African country to terminate its BIT with the Netherlands. 

The EU-Mercosur trade agreement leads to environmental destruction, violation of the land rights of farmers and indigenous people and the loss of industrial jobs in the Mercosur countries. It also creates unfair competition for European farmers. The Handel Anders! coalition is calling for an alternative agreement to improve the political cooperation between the EU and the Mercosur countries and is making proposals for just and sustainable international trade rules. That is the core message of new publication presented today in the Nieuwspoort in The Hague.

Nairobi, Kenya's capital city, will be the epicenter of international trade from 15 to 18 December 2015. The representatives of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which currently has 162 member countries, will come together to negotiate. The different countries tend to have very different and often conflicting interests, which makes it difficult to reach agreements. Burghard Ilge of Both ENDS travels with Minister Ploumen as an official adviser and mediator from civil society. His role is to inform the Minister about the views and interests of civil society organisations around the world, in order for her to take these positions into consideration during the negotiations. We asked Ilge some clarifying questions.

Today an alliance of more than 150 organisations, trade unions and social movements in countries across Europe is launching a joint programme against unfair trade and investment agreements, and especially against the controversial Investor-to-State-Dispute-Settlement (ISDS) mechanism. Under ISDS, investors can bring complaints against states whose social and environmental legislation pose a threat to their profits.

If the Netherlands wants to make its agriculture and livestock industry sustainable and to ensure that farmers get a fair price for their products, it will also have to look beyond its own borders. The Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of agricultural products. We have a great impact because, through our trade relations, we uphold a system of intensive agriculture that destroys ecosystems and undermines local production. Partly due to our trade in agricultural products, the Dutch economy is has a large, and growing, footprint. That should and can be different: the Netherlands is in a good position to lead the required transition in agriculture. Fortunately, the party manifestos for the coming elections offer sufficient opportunities to set that in motion. A new coalition can thus take decisive new steps.