Rosa Luxemburg Foundation

Trade relations between European Union and Latin America
Counter-summit with many public events, 8-10 June, Brussels

Under the title "Days of Mobilization: Reclaiming Peoples’ Sovereignty against the Corporate-led Trade and Investment Architecture" a counter summit is taking place with many activities on 8 - 10 June 2015, right before the official EU-CELAC-Summit hosted in Brussels this year (10 - 11 June 2015).

As part of these activities the Brussels office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung organises a workshop on "EU Latin America Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) – current struggles and future perspectives" which aims at looking into current trade negotiations and putting them into perspective with the objective of the US/EU to shape the trade and investment agenda for the 21st century (TTIP/TTP). We will bring together activists from social movements/trade unions, experts and representatives of political parties.

This event will be held in co-operation with TNI, IPS, IATP, and Focus on the Global South.

Additionally, the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung will organise two workshops:

In the first workshop we will focus on the question how the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will influence the relation between the EU and Latin America and what impact TTIP might have on the economies and societies in Latin America.

The second workshop will concentrate on the EU – Mexico relations in regard to human rights and "deep integration" in trade and investment in a situation where trade Commissioner Malmström commented on 11 May 2015 that: "we will make the modernized EU-Mexico trade agreement comparable to our deal with Canada and to what TTIP will become. I will request a mandate from the Council to launch negotiations this year and we will prepare the ground for the EU-Mexico Summit on 12 June 2015."

The provisional time table is:

8 June
10:00 – 13:00 Roundtable

9 June
10:00 – 13:00 Opening panel
14:00 – 18:30 Workshops

10 June
09:30 – 13:00 Workshops

A special guest at the meeting will be Alberto Castilla, one of the spokespersons of the Colombian "Congreso de los Pueblo", a large network of civil society organisations in Colombia, and member of the Colombian Parliament (votes through polo democratico).

He is fighting against the sellout of natural resources to transnational companies, and for a just peace process which includes campesinos, indigenous people as well as Afro-Colombian organisations.

Venue:
MAI (La Maison des Associations Internationales)
Rue Washington 40 / Washingtonstraat 40
1050 Brussels