Brussels, 11/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - At the meeting of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee on 1 June 2010, MEPs from across the political spectrum criticised the European Commission's decision (see EUROPE 10133), confirmed on the fringes of the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit on 18 May 2010 (see EUROPE 10141), to re-convene talks over a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela). Several MEPs highlighted the risks to European farming and the CAP. British ALDE MEP George Lyon, for example, asked the Commission to provide further information about its negotiating mandate, calling for the European Parliament to have greater involvement in the process. We are witnessing a bartering of European farming, warned Irish EPP MEP Mairead McGuinness (PPE), while British ECR MEP James Nicholson commented that farmers' hands must not be tied by excessive legislation and then for supermarkets to be filled with low-cost products from abroad. French EPP MEP Christophe Béchu said that there was a double risk to European farming in the opening of negotiations with Mercosur alongside multilateral trade deals under the WTO in the Doha Round. In response to the criticism, the Commission pointed out that the EU is actively defending its own interests in the Mercosur talks in areas like wine, cheese, fruit and protection of geographical indications. It did, however, promise to consult with other bodies. A preliminary discussion under the new EU-Mercosur talks is scheduled in Buenos Aires for the end of this month or the beginning of July 2010. (E.H.)