leveraging eu trade for a just transition: rethinking eu-lac relations
How can EU trade promote a just transition in partner countries?
As SOLIDAR gears up to participate in the fourth EU-CELAC Summit in Colombia on 9-10 November, we’re launching a policy brief focused on how to ensure that EU trade becomes a vehicle to promote a just transition in partner countries, with a focus on EU trade relations with CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States ) countries.
The EU has made some progress in aligning trade policy with climate justice and social equity by incorporating sustainability objectives into its trade agenda. However, these efforts remain limited in scope, poorly enforced and often reinforce extractive economic models. This policy brief explores how EU trade policy can better support that goal, focusing on trade agreements and emerging partnership models such as the Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships (CTIPs). The brief identifies five core shortcomings in the EU’s current trade approach:
- Non-inclusive design and limited ambition of sustainability regulations
- Weak and unenforceable Trade and Sustainable Development commitments in trade agreements
- The risk of replicating extractive economic models
- Structural constraints embedded in international trade rules
- Persistent governance and transparency deficits
With this brief, SOLIDAR calls for a shift in EU trade policy to embed enforceable sustainability commitments, protect the policy space of resource-rich countries, and ensure access to clean technologies so partner countries can chart their own decarbonisation and industrialisation pathways. The brief then zooms in on EU trade relations with the CELAC, offering region-specific policy proposals. With shared values and the upcoming EU–CELAC Summit planned for November 2025, both regions are well-positioned to lead in building a new model of trade rooted in mutual benefit and just transition principles.
