Take Action!

We need your help in convincing the Irish candidates for the European Parliament to support a full-scale rethink of Europe’s trade policy.  There are number of different ways that you can help us to do this.

• If you have 30 minutes:  Write to one or more of your MEP candidates and ask them to sign the enclosed pledge in support of a review of Europe’s trade strategy. A template letter for you to use is downloadable from http://www.comhlamh.org/resources-bits-to-help-you-campaign.html

• If you have an hour: Make an appointment to go and visit one or more of your MEP candidates. Tell them why you think the EU’s current trade strategy is wrong and ask them to sign the enclosed pledge.

• If you have longer: Your MEP candidate may be holding a public meeting in your locality. Go along, link up with other concerned citizens, and raise the issue of trade in the meeting. Or you could organise a joint meeting with one or more of your MEP candidates to explain this issue and ask them to support the pledge. For advice on how to find other people in your area who are interested in getting involved in the campaign give us a call on 01 4783490

What are we calling for?

Comhlámh, as part of an EU-wide network, is calling for the European Commission to:

• Stop unfair EU trade deals with Africa, Asia and Latin America
• Commit before the end of 2009 to rethink EU trade policy so that it prioritises development, environ-mental sustainability and human rights
• Open up European trade policy to enable better democratic accountability and scrutiny by parliamentarians and civil society

What should I ask my MEP candidates to do?

To make it easier, we have designed a pledge for you to ask your MEP candidates to sign - see http://www.comhlamh.org/resources-bits-to-help-you-campaign.html . This pledge sets out what the candidates can do to support a rethink of Europe’s trade strategy if they get elected to the European Parliament in the June 2009 elections and commits them to doing so. Once your MEP candidates have signed the pledge, please send it back to Comhlámh, so we can keep a record of which MEP candidates are supporting the campaign and can remind them of their promise in the future. Alternatively you can email us at fleachta@comhlamh.org. If you want to speak to someone in person, please call us on 4783490.