The end of negotiations on the trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries drew mixed reactions from the European agriculture ministers in Brussels on Monday 9 December (see EUROPE 13540/1).
On the unhappy side, France, Poland and Austria have made it clear that they are opposed to the text of the free trade agreement, while Italy has appeared to want to place conditions on its approval.
On his arrival at the EU Council on Monday, Polish Minister Czesław Siekierski said that the agreement with the Mercosur countries opened up the market too widely to their agricultural products. “This would require significant compensation for farmers in order to meet this competition”, he said. “We need to establish a link between the volume of imports supposedly authorised under the quotas and our market share”, he added.
Ireland is waiting to “see the detail of the text” on environmental standards and safeguards (reciprocity), warned Irish minister Charlie McConalogue.
Francesco Lollobrigida, the Italian minister, said that approval of the agreement was “conditional” on the provision of “adequate guarantees of reciprocity, protection of our products and compensation for any damage that European agricultural sectors may suffer”.
France is against the conclusion of this agreement, reiterated Annie Genevard, the French minister. In her view, this agreement will have a major impact on national products such as meat (beef and poultry) and sugar. Furthermore, this agreement “does not guarantee reciprocity” in the standards imposed on EU producers. France is also strongly opposed to splitting the agreement, which would “deprive national parliaments of a voice”.
The Spanish Minister, Luis Planas, said that he understood that there could be concerns, “but if we look at the tariff quotas adopted on sensitive agricultural products, they are of a size that, in my opinion, does not modify the Community market”. He welcomed the protection of 200 EU quality agricultural products (PDO, PGI). In addition, “we still have safeguard clauses that can be applied to quotas”, he added.
The German minister, Cem Özdemir, said he saw no threat to farmers in the EU/Mercosur agreement. “We have ensured that farmers’ interests are not harmed”, he said.
The Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen stressed that the agreement had been negotiated in line with the position of the Member States, adopted within the Council of the EU. The Commission is ready to discuss the agreement with farmers, he stressed. He would not confirm whether or not there would be any compensation for farmers.
Demonstrations. The agricultural organisations and cooperatives of the EU (Copa-Cogeca) organised a demonstration in Brussels on Monday against the EU/Mercosur agreement.
The Spanish associations Asaja and COAG have denounced the lack of reciprocity and mirror clauses in the agreement, and have announced a demonstration on 16 December in Madrid to express their unease “at the lack of effective responses to their problems”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)