Citizenship happens because it is not aware of the content and consequences of these conventions. This is the case with the free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada with the CETA, which will allow the adoption of various laws that will affect our daily lives. The parties that defend it in Euskal Herria – PNV, PSE, PP and UPN – repeat again and again that it will be beneficial for the citizens because it will boost the economy and support small and medium-sized enterprises. The real objective, however, is to create regulations that benefit large multinationals and large corporations.

These agreements deepen capitalism and set limits on the sovereignty of peoples, as companies will have more power and rights than states. Our food quality will deteriorate; small trade and the activity of local baserritars will be destroyed; doors will be opened to companies that produce environmental and health damage, as has happened in the mining sector in Canada; in some way, it is about reaching an agreement with Trump, in which these markets are completely linked; and labor and social rights will be cut to increase the profits of companies.

Faced with this situation, about to ratify the agreement, the Charter of Social Rights of Euskal Herria has called several mobilizations this week against it. Certainly, in the face of such a damaging agreement, progressive social movements in the Basque Country and the progressive media should work harder, as the citizens have not had precise and sufficient access to the consequences of what is known as CETA.