Brussels, 12/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - During the Agriculture Council in Luxembourg on Monday 11 April, nearly 28 EU member states, led by France, spoke of their concern at the approach of the exchange of market access offers in mid-May. This exchange comes as part of the EU-Mercosur free trade negotiations, and these member states demanded a comprehensive impact study before moving forward in the negotiations.
“The protection of European producers' interests in sensitive sectors remains of great importance”, said Dutch Agriculture Minister Martijn van Dam, at the end of the meeting. He stated that the agriculture ministers had called on the Commission to carry out a comprehensive impact analysis of the offers before moving forward in the negotiations.
On Monday, most countries - including those supporting the note presented by France in early April (see EUROPE 11528) - were opposed to the EU's offer containing proposals on quotas applied to sensitive products (dairy products, pork, poultry and beef, fruit and vegetables).
“A comprehensive assessment is needed of everything that is negotiated and that weighs heavily in agricultural terms. It is not acceptable to offer quotas for sensitive products from the start of the negotiations”, France's Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll said in front of his counterparts.
“The 18 ministers who spoke presented a message of caution. They asked for an in-depth impact analysis before the negotiations continue. A few delegations underlined the need for coherence of the policies”, a European source told EUROPE. Countries that did not sign France's note, like Belgium, “adhered to the demand for caution”, the source continued.
“Around 20” member states spoke of their concern both on the timing for exchanging offers and launching the negotiations, in full agricultural crisis, and of their concern on the strategic level, said European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Phil Hogan. He promised a study in September on the cumulative effect of all past and future free trade agreements.
Half the EU's imports from Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela - although Venezuela is not participating in the current negotiations) are agricultural products and the EU is already experiencing a deficit of around €20 billion in this sector without a free trade agreement, Hogan told the ministers.
Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday 12 April, Hogan said the Mercosur countries should review their ambitions downwards a little (in terms of offensive interests). “The different EU ministers are working in tandem but, as the commissioner for agriculture, I would like to ask that Mercosur review its expectations downwards a little, to see what is acceptable for the EU and politically viable for some of our sectors”, he said. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)