A delegation of 13 MEPs returned from Brazil, on Friday 25 July, where they met a number of local players and discussed several aspects of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. The MEPs met Brazil’s Vice-President of trade, Geraldo Alckmin, as well as members of the government and business and civil society representatives.
Each member of the delegation selected different elements, depending on their political affinities. Belgian MEP Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA) and her French colleague, Manon Aubry (The Left), denounced the fact that the EU-Mercosur agreement would, in their view, mainly benefit Brazilian agricultural giants and harm small family farms.
On the other hand, according to the Chair of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Brazil, Hélder Sousa Silva (EPP, Portuguese), the EU-Mercosur agreement is the best prospect for small farmers. Each farmer will benefit from tariff preferences on their own scale, according to the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock, which the MEP quoted. And he added: “It’s clear that those with the biggest production will benefit more than small farmers, but there’s no exclusion of small farmers from the outset”.
He maintains the same logic with regard to the protection of indigenous populations in Brazil, threatened by deforestation: the EU-Mercosur agreement includes guarantees that prevent deforestation, according to him. By comparison, a potential agreement with China would probably guarantee nothing for these populations, he emphasised to Agence Europe.
Plant health checks. A number of MEPs who took part in the trip - including Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew Europe, French), Saskia Bricmont and Manon Aubry - expressed concern at the low level of checks on goods destined for export. During their visit to the port of Santos, MEPs were told that only around 30 people are involved in checking several tens of millions of tonnes of goods a year destined for the EU. For Ms Vedrenne, this example is a cause for concern and warrants clarification from the European Commission.
The head of the delegation, Bernd Lange (German, S&D), found the visit to the port impressive, and expressed the hope that the agreement would genuinely improve trade between the two blocs “for the benefit of the people on the ground”, such as port workers, for example. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)