European Fair-trade movements joined forces in 2004 to strengthen fair-trade actors' capacities to engage with European institutions as well as to advocate for European policies in support of Fair Trade and Trade Justice. Eventually, in 2010, this led to the legally-independent foundation of the Fair-Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), established by Fairtrade International, the World Fair Trade Organization and the World Fair Trade Organization Europe.
Since its creation, the FTAO has established long-lasting partnerships with key Directorate Generals of the European Commission and members of the European Parliament. Furthermore, the FTAO is also a member of various EU advisory groups. Examples include the multi-stakeholder platform on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Domestic Advisory group on trade and sustainable development for EU free trade agreements with Colombia and Peru and the Consultative Committee on the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the Caribbean Forum (Cariforum). The Office also has played important roles in the creation of various EU policies, such as the EU Trade policy, development policy, fair textiles and sustainable corporate governance.
Sources:
https://fairtrade-advocacy.org/what-we-do/
Corbalán, S. & Sinigaglia, A. (2019) EU trade and development policies: How has Fair Trade been used as a tool to achieve sustainability for people and planet? in Perspectives on the soft power of EU trade policy.
Picture Credit: European Union Flags 2, Thijs Ter Haar CC https://www.flickr.com/