EU negotiators have been in Brasilia since Thursday 5 September to try to conclude negotiations on the EU/Mercosur trade agreement with their Latin American counterparts.
A number of players have expressed confidence in such an outcome in the near future, including the Brazilian ambassador to the EU, Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva (see EUROPE 13470/1). This is also the case for the Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange (S&D, German) (see other news).
On the other side, however, there are many voices from different backgrounds challenging the legitimacy of the agreement. “How can we demand high production standards from our livestock farmers or our maize growers, for example, and at the same time accept products from the other side of the world that do not meet our criteria?”, questioned MEP, Céline Imart (EPP, French).
This observation is shared by her Belgian colleague Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA). “We cannot, on the one hand, promise decent incomes to farmers and, on the other, negotiate trade agreements such as the one with the Mercosur countries that lead them to sell at a loss”, she said.
She was referring to the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU agriculture, presented on Wednesday 4 September (see EUROPE 13475/1). The authors of the report call on the EU to take greater account of the specific characteristics of the agricultural sector when negotiating free trade agreements. For example, differences in standards between the EU and partner countries need to be borne in mind in the chapters on market access.
For the NGO Friends of the Earth Europe, the EU/Mercosur trade agreement will exacerbate forest fires in the Amazon rainforest for economic reasons, as well as violence against indigenous peoples.
Bernd Lange disagrees. He believes that increased cooperation can enable the objectives of the Paris Agreement to be fully implemented on both the European and Latin American sides. In his view, the benefits of the agreement should be weighed against the effects on the European agricultural sector.
For the employers’ representative BusinessEurope, the agreement must be concluded quickly. “The EU must urgently find ways to derisk through diversification of both imports and exports”, according to Luisa Santos, the organisation’s Deputy Director General. She added that any solution found would have to take account of the sensitivities of both sides, particularly regarding environmental sustainability. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)