The Veblen Institute was invited on June 4 to take part in an event entitled “How can we ensure genuine fairness in international agricultural trade?”, held at the European Parliament and hosted by MEPs Benoit Cassart (Renew, Belgium), Eric Sargiocomo (S&D, France), Camilla Laureti (S&D, Italy), and Charles Goerens (Renew, Luxembourg).
This conference took the form of a dialogue between agricultural sector representatives, NGOs, experts, and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), focusing on the issue of import requirements in the EU market (also known as mirror clauses).
Panel 1: Identifying the need for reciprocity (Representatives from the agricultural sectors and NGOs)
- Paul-Henri Lava, Deputy Secretary General, AVEC EU Poultry
- Daniel Pérez Vega, Programme Officer for Trade and Animal Welfare, Eurogroup for Animals
- Franck Laborde, President, CEPM, Maiz’ Europ’
- Elisabeth Lacoste, Director, European Confederation of Beet Growers (CIBE)
- Marta Messa, Secretary General, Slow Food
- Léa Auffret, Head of International Affairs, European Consumer Organisation (BEUC)
Panel 2: Conditions for success (Experts)
- Mathilde Dupré, Co-director, Veblen Institute – “Capacity to enforce mirror measures?”
- Dorian Guinard, Lecturer in Public Law, Université Grenoble Alpes – “What are the limits of the current approach based on maximum residue levels?”
- Stéphanie Kpenou, Doctor of Law, specialist in trade rules – “Are mirror measures compatible with WTO rules?”
A summary report of this dialogue was written by Marine Colli on behalf of the MEPs who organised the event.