Greenpeace Luxembourg Calls for Rejection of EU-Mercosur Deal in Petition to Government

On Tuesday 9 December 2025, Greenpeace Luxembourg officially submitted its petition against the EU–Mercosur agreement to Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs during a meeting with Fabien Raum, Deputy Director of the Directorate for European Affairs and Economic Relations.

According to the organisation, the petition - which gathered 1,122 signatures - “reflects growing public concern about the environmental and social impacts of the agreement.” 

Greenpeace warned that the accord would accelerate deforestation in the Amazon, jeopardise Indigenous rights, increase greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to biodiversity loss. The organisation added that the agreement would primarily benefit large multinationals, including Brazilian meat producer JBS, to the detriment of the climate, nature and small ecological producers in Europe and Mercosur countries. This latest action follows earlier campaigns, including a protest staged in late April 2025 outside the Luxembourg headquarters of J&F Investments Luxembourg Sàrl, a holding company of JBS, which coincided with the firm’s annual general meeting in São Paulo.

Lis Cunha, European trade policy expert at Greenpeace’s European unit, stated: “After twenty-five years of behind-closed-doors negotiations, the EU–Mercosur agreement appears as the symbol of an outdated trade model. It would increase the trade of meat, pesticides and other products with devastating impacts, with catastrophic consequences for the Amazon, the climate and human rights. It is time that European governments listen to civil society and renounce this toxic agreement.”

Martina Holbach, campaigner at Greenpeace Luxembourg, added: “The citizens who signed this petition are sending a clear message: Luxembourg must defend the protection of forests, the climate and human rights. We call on the government to listen to this request and oppose the EU–Mercosur agreement in its current form. This agreement would endanger already weakened ecosystems and compromise the country’s sustainability commitments.”

Greenpeace Luxembourg stated it will continue advocating for Luxembourg to oppose the agreement and support responsible European trade that respects forests, the climate and human rights. The organisation also urged the government to firmly defend the EU’s anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR), for which the European Parliament recently voted in favour of a one-year postponement.