Hello everyone, my name is Luchino Ferraris
and I'm the author of the book 'The pursuit
of sustainable agriculture in EU free trade
agreements'.
In fact, in the last couple of decades
free trade agreements have become
a prominent feature of the EU trade policy.
However, these agreements do not only present
opportunities, but also, I would say, challenges
especially for environmental protection,
for food safety, for rural development and
for climate change. In my book I try to find
out the extent to which the European Union
pursues sustainable agriculture in third
countries by means of its free trade agreements
and I suggest that indeed the environmental
dimension of such agreements is on the rise,
especially since 2006, but also at the same
time,
the efforts displayed so far, are still
insufficient to reverse the negative impacts
of such agreements.
I truly believe that my
book replies to a question that is still unanswered
in legal scholarship, particularly, on the
one hand through an interdisciplinary approach
that takes into consideration economic and
political factors and also on the other hand
through the analysis of several case studies,
namely the agreements comcluded by European
Union, with Canada, with South Korea, with
Chile, with Vietnam, with Ukraine and with
the Southern African Development Community.
Because of the relevance and of the importance
of topics that have become of common concern
for the future of our planet, I would allow
myself to recommend the reading of my book. Not only to scholars of different fields, but also to the wider public.
Thank you very much, enjoy the reading.
