Complaint to the European Ombudsman: The European Commission’s failure to complete a final sustainability impact assessment prior to the conclusion of the negotiations of the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement

This complaint, which is submitted on behalf of ClientEarth, Fern, Veblen Institute, La Fondation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l'Homme and International Federation for Human Rights, deals with the European Commission’s failure to complete a final sustainability impact assessment of the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement prior to the conclusion of the negotiations.

The first part of the complaint will lay out the relevant background and context (section 1). The Complainants will demonstrate that the Commission conducted and concluded the trade talks with Mercosur countries without appropriate and updated information about the potential social, environmental and economic impacts of the proposed Agreement, and without appropriate involvement of all stakeholders. Finally, the complaint will establish the grounds for the Commission’s maladministration, based on its failure to comply with its own guidelines on SIAs and, more importantly, the provisions of the EU’s founding Treaties (section 3).