Vote for Fair Trade Manifesto is launched with the endorsement of two European Commission President candidates

4 April 2014 (Brussels) – The Vote for Fair Trade (Vote4FT) Manifesto was officially launched at an event hosted by the European Parliament Fair Trade Working Group in the evening of 2 April. The Manifesto, which lays down the main Fair Trade movement demands to the European Union for the 2014-2019 term, has already been endorsed by Martin Schulz, common candidate for the Party of European Socialists and by Ska Keller, co-candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission for the European Green Party.

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The Fair Trade movement launched in 2013 the Vote for Fair Trade (Vote4FT) campaign, with the financial assistance of the European Commission, with the objective to create a dialogue between EU citizens, Fair Trade producers and EU decision-makers on the policies that the EU should put in place to support Fair Trade. A key milestone in this campaign is the public launch of the Vote4FT Manifesto, which lays down themain five demands to the European Union for the 2014-2019 term.

Martin Schulz, common candidate for the Party of European Socialists and Ska Keller, co-candidate for the Presidency of the European Commission for the European Green Party, have already endorsed the five Fair Trade movement demands. The Manifesto has also been signed by key candidates to the European Parliament elections from various European political families in the Parliament, including the European People’s Party and the Party of the European Left. Seven of these candidates, across countries and parties, seized the opportunity to explain why they support Fair Trade in a short video that is available online.

The Fair Trade movement is composed of 2.5 million producers and workers from 70 countries, 24 labelling initiatives, over 500 specialised Fair Trade importers, 4,000 World Shops and more than 100,000 volunteers. On the run up to the European Parliament elections taking place from 20 to 25 May, the Fair Trade movement will be engaging candidates running for the European elections in more than 20 EU Member States, asking them to endorse the 5 demands in the manifesto and making the results available on the campaign website.

Sergi Corbalán, Executive Director of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office, stated “More transparency is badly needed in EU trade policy-making, so the best way to start is by publishing which European elections candidates committ to which of the five main Fair Trade movement demands. We hope to provide information to allow EU citizens to make an informed voting decision when they go to the polls”.

Contact:

Sebastien Leclef

Project Coordinator

Fair Trade Advocacy Office

Village Partenaire – bureau 1

Rue Fernand Bernierstraat, 15

1060 – Brussels – Belgium

Tel: +32 (0)2 543 19 23

E-mail: leclef@fairtrade-advocacy.org

Website: www.fairtrade-advocacy.org

This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Fair Trade Advocacy Office and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.

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