What does the current EU trade model actually deliver for the people living at the other end of global supply chains? In this paper, the Young Fair Trade Advocates set out to answer that question.

Drawing on a series of international dialogues with representatives from ten countries across the Global South, the YFTAs document the concrete human and environmental costs of EU Free Trade Agreements as experienced by farmers, workers, trade unionists and environmental defenders from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uganda, Ghana, Brazil, Bangladesh, Chile, Argentina and the Dominican Republic. Their testimonies paint a consistent picture: trade agreements that prioritise commercial interests over living wages, that fail to protect indigenous communities, that exacerbate gender inequalities, and whose sustainability provisions remain largely unenforceable.

The paper concludes with a set of concrete recommendations to EU policymakers, co-developed with the Global South speakers, calling for trade agreements grounded in human rights, genuine civil society participation, and accountability mechanisms with real teeth.

This paper reflects the views and independent work of the Young Fair Trade Advocates, supported by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office.