New report released on how to Scale Up Fair Trade in Europe
The Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) yesterday launched its latest publication ‘From local to EU level: Scaling Up Fair Trade in Europe’ at the European Parliament. The report aims to showcase and promote Fair Trade initiatives led by Local Authorities and develop EU policy recommendations on how the next European Commission could further support such initiatives.
During a gathering of the European Parliament Fair Trade Working Group, where the report was launched, outgoing Chair of the group, Linda McAvan MEP said: “It was a pleasure to conclude this mandate with the launch of the FTAO’s new report on how to increase Fair Trade support across Europe. The publication represents another example of the great collaboration between the European Parliament Fair Trade Working Group and the FTAO so far. It also includes important policy recommendations that will push for a renewed EU commitment to Fair Trade during the next 5 years.”
According to the report, the main challenges that Local Authorities promoting Fair Trade face are a lack of internal capacity and financial resources. Recommendations detailed in the report outline how the EU can play a key role in supporting Local Authorities to learn from each other through knowledge sharing and networking opportunities. Furthermore, the EU could assist in developing, testing, implementing and upscaling Fair Trade projects by providing and making financial resources available.
‘We would like to thank all the policymakers, Fair Trade actors and other stakeholders who helped the FTAO gather the information for this research. It will be an important tool for the Fair Trade movement to influence the policy agenda of the next European Commission. We do hope that it will also encourage more and more local authorities to plan and implement local Fair Trade initiatives”’ said Sergi Corbalán, Executive Director of the FTAO.
You can see the report here.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Sergi Corbalán on corbalan@fairtrade-advocacy.org or at +32 2 54 31 92 3.
Notes to Editors
– The Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO) speaks out for Fair Trade and Trade Justice with the aim to improve the livelihoods of marginalised producers and workers in the South. The FTAO is a joint initiative of Fairtrade International, the World Fair Trade Organization-Global and the World Fair Trade Organization-Europe. More information: www.fairtrade-advocacy.org
– The World Fair Trade Organization–Global (WFTO) is the worldwide network of Fair Trade Organisations. More information: https://wfto.com/
– The World Fair Trade Organization-Europe (WFTO-Europe) is the European branch of WFTO. It is formed by around 90 members, amongst them Fair Trade organizations, Fair Trade networks and Fair Trade support organizations. More information: https:/wfto-europe.org/
– Fairtrade International is a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization made up of member organizations around the world. It is responsible for the strategic direction of Fairtrade, setting the Fairtrade Standards and supporting producers in developing countries. More information: https://www.fairtrade.net/
– Engagement Global is the central contact agency in Germany for development policy initiatives. More information: https://www.engagement-global.de/homepage.html
– The project ‘From local to EU: Scaling Up Fair Trade in Europe’ was a 9 month initiative which aimed to showcase and promote Fair Trade initiatives led by local authorities, as well as to develop EU policy recommendations on how the upcoming European Commission can further support local authorities’ work on Fair Trade. Co-funded by the German central contact agency for development policy initiatives, Engagement Global, and the EU, through the DEAR project Trade Fair Live Fair, the project engaged a wide range of stakeholders in a debate on the obstacles and challenges that are faced at local level to promote sustainable development through Fair Trade. Stakeholders’ feedback has been gathered through several consultation processes, in particular, the EU Conference ‘From Local to EU level: Scaling Up Fair Trade in Europe’, organized in Brussels on 27-28 June 2018, and ad-hoc interviews with nine local authorities across the EU.