On Monday 23 June in Luxembourg, the French Minister for Agriculture, Annie Genevard, once again reaffirmed France’s opposition to the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries.
The European agriculture ministers discussed the agricultural aspects of the free trade agreements between the EU and certain third countries. The Polish Presidency of the EU Council has asked ministers to consider the advisability of working on a list of “general principles” to guide the EU’s trade relations with third countries in the field of agriculture. Some ministers welcomed the idea of general principles, while others claimed that it would go too far.
With regard to the EU/Mercosur agreement, several ministers expressed concerns about its impact on the EU’s agricultural sector, while others were in favour.
Annie Genevard argued that this draft agreement “does absolutely nothing to protect the agricultural sectors”, citing in particular the example of sugar - the import of quotas would further weaken this sector - and livestock farming, whether for beef or poultry. In her view, these examples illustrate “the absence of robust safeguard clauses in the draft agreement to protect our agriculture”.
The minister emphasised that she had been persuading her European counterparts for several months: “We need robust, legally enforceable safeguard clauses. This cannot be reduced to a simple declaration of intent”, she asserted. “I visited Hungary and Austria, and both countries expressed their concerns to me. Poland too”, she added.
This rallying effort comes as the European Commission plans to submit the text of the EU/Mercosur Agreement to Member States for ratification within the next few days. The agreement should be divided into two parts, and the trade chapters could be applied provisionally pending full ratification of the treaty as a whole. This would allow to overcome the blocking effect of reluctant Member States, provided they do not reach a blocking minority during the qualified majority vote.
Another point of concern on the French side is the rebalancing of concessions. According to Paris, the agreement introduces a worrying precedent, by allowing Mercosur countries to reopen discussions if, in their view, the conditions of access to the European market are detrimental to their export capacity.
“I don’t think the time has come to conclude this agreement. The Commission must really listen to farmers”, added Ms Genevard.
Timmy Dooley, Minister of State at the Irish Department of Agriculture, also expressed his reservations about the current agreement, due to its effects on beef production. He called for imported products to be subject to the same standards (equivalence) as those from the EU.
France and Italy have also called for “a better balance” in the EU/Mercosur agreement to protect European farmers, notably through the adoption of “dedicated clauses”, according to a joint press release published on 21 June. Benjamin Haddad, the French Minister Delegate for Europe, held talks in Rome with his Italian counterpart, Tommaso Foti, to “discuss possible ways of improving the agreement with Mercosur”, according to the press release.
The Spanish minister, Luis Planas, who is in favour of the agreement, pointed out that the agreement with Mercosur was “a new generation agreement”, comprising not only very limited quotas, but also applicable safeguard clauses and monitoring of economic, environmental and social aspects.
He pointed out that the European Commission had provided for the possibility of a specific fund, if necessary, as part of the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). “I think it probably won’t be necessary”, said Mr Planas. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur with Léa Marchal)