An Economy that Works for People

The document argues that EU trade policy must be consistent with the Green Deal, Farm to Fork, and animal welfare standards to prevent the externalisation of environmental and social impacts. It proposes ten structural reforms for EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), including the introduction of enforceable sustainability obligations, conditional preferential tariffs, penalty mechanisms for TSD violations, and mandatory ex-ante sustainability impact assessments.

• The signatories argue that EU trade policy must be aligned with the Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategies to avoid contradictions, such as reducing internal emissions while allowing the EU's carbon footprint from imported products to increase.
• The authors contend that the EU is accountable for the social and environmental consequences its consumption causes in third countries and must change trade rules to mitigate these global negative impacts.
• The letter proposes ten specific reforms for EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to better integrate sustainability, including the use of conditional preferential tariffs, enforceable sustainability obligations, and the possibility of penalties or sanctions for TSD chapter violations.
• The proposed reforms include improving the governance and transparency of FTAs through ex-post monitoring, reinforced powers for panels of experts and Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs), and the requirement for sound ex-ante sustainability impact assessments during negotiations.

APA

ClientEarth (2021). An Economy that Works for People. https://www.clientearth.org/media/tmkfl4ic/clientearth-efa-eeb-fern-fnh-veblen-joint-letter-on-tsd-review-1.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. An Economy that Works for People. 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/tmkfl4ic/clientearth-efa-eeb-fern-fnh-veblen-joint-letter-on-tsd-review-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=ClientEarth |title=An Economy that Works for People |date=28 October 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/tmkfl4ic/clientearth-efa-eeb-fern-fnh-veblen-joint-letter-on-tsd-review-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{clientearth2021economy, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{An Economy that Works for People}}, publisher = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/tmkfl4ic/clientearth-efa-eeb-fern-fnh-veblen-joint-letter-on-tsd-review-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }