The conclusion of the negotiations on the future free trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and New Zealand on Thursday 30 June has caused a stir in the European agri-food sector. The European agricultural federations Copa and Cogeca stated that they regret the tariff quotas granted on New Zealand’s exports of beef, sheep and dairy products, which they consider too high. “This will widen the trade deficit in agriculture at a time when we are struggling to continue to invest in sustainability”, say the two organisations.
The French interprofessional Livestock and Meat Association (Interbev) is also concerned about the impact of the agreement on French farmers: “In order to strengthen Europe’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region, the European Commission has once again chosen to sell off its livestock sectors while abandoning its recent commitments to food sovereignty and sustainability. And this without France stopping it”.
The organisation said it had written to French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on 28 June about the EU-New Zealand trade deal. “This new agreement could indeed facilitate the opening of the European market to several thousand tonnes of beef produced in New Zealand... without any prior requirement to respect European breeding standards”, regrets this organisation. It also deplores the fact that the French Presidency of the EU Council is ending without the ambition of Paris on the issue of reciprocity of agricultural production standards in trade being translated into European texts (see EUROPE 12970/1).
BusinessEurope, the organisation representing, in particular, large companies in the EU, said it was looking forward to analysing the content of the agreement, already indicating that the conclusion of the negotiations marked “the expected resumption of an ambitious European trade agenda”. The organisation’s director general, Markus J. Beyrer, stressed that in the current geopolitical context, “like-minded countries that are committed to free trade must unite forces to open markets and fight climate change”.
These three major voices of European producers welcomed the inclusion of more binding elements on the Paris agreement and labour law in the agreement.
MEPs welcome new deal on the table
“Today’s agreement is a strong signal at the right time”, said the MEP, Daniel Caspary (EPP, Germany). “The Trade Committee (INTA) will be pushing to receive the final texts as soon as possible in order to scrutinise them. Our aim will be to ratify the agreement during this mandate”, he added. His colleague Geert Bourgeois (ECR, Belgium) said that “more modern agreements of this kind” were needed.
On the eve of the conclusion of the negotiations, the Greens/EFA group listed its expectations in a letter. They concern the inclusion of binding chapters on sustainable development, compliance with the Paris Agreement, respect for the rights of Māori people, liberalisation of digital services, agriculture, unfair subsidies, etc.
Most of the requests seem to be included in the agreement between the Commission and New Zealand. “We’ll analyse the final text in depth to guard those lines!”, said Sara Matthieu (Greens/EFA, Belgium). (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Lionel Changeur)