The European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture expressed very serious concerns about the limited effectiveness of the safeguard clause in the free trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries, during a debate on Monday 1 December, and in an opinion in the form of a letter to be sent the following day (see EUROPE 13755/21).
According to the draft opinion, consulted by Agence Europe and sent by the Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Veronika Vrecionová (ECR, Czech) to her counterpart on the Committee on International Trade, Bernd Lange (S&D, German), MEPs believe that the European agricultural sector will be “disproportionately” exposed to the risks associated with increased imports from Mercosur countries – particularly in sensitive sectors such as beef and pork, poultry, sugar, maize, honey and certain fruits.
The major weaknesses identified in the draft opinion concerning the safeguard clause are as follows: - lack of automatic triggers (the proposed mechanisms rely on lengthy and complex investigations, which are incompatible with the speed required in the agricultural sector); - excessively high activation thresholds and excessively burdensome criteria (e.g. the obligation to analyse 36 months of data), which may discourage use of the safeguard clause; - excessively long investigation periods (up to nine months), considered impossible to reconcile with the perishability of agricultural products; - overly restricted measures: the proposal is essentially limited to suspending or reintroducing customs duties, with no possibility of temporarily suspending imports in the event of a serious crisis; - outdated reference prices, particularly for beef, reducing the relevance of triggers; - inadequate controls: lack of traceability, risks of circumvention via Paraguay, border controls considered ineffective; - lack of transparency and frequency of monitoring: biannual monitoring is considered to be largely insufficient (the Committee is calling for at least quarterly, if not monthly, monitoring); - insufficient reciprocity guarantees: without a clear clause, there is no guarantee that imports will meet standards equivalent to those required in the EU in terms of animal welfare, sustainability, pesticides or antibiotics, according to MEPs; - major risk of environmental and social dumping, linked to lower production standards in Mercosur countries.
On Tuesday 2 December, the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture will deliver its opinion on the implementation of the bilateral safeguard clause in the EU-Mercosur partnership agreement. The Committee on International Trade will adopt its report on this file on Monday 8 December, with a view to a vote at the European Parliament’s plenary session on Tuesday 16 December (see EUROPE 13759/2).
During Monday’s debate, Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italian) regretted that the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture was not on an equal footing with the Committee on International Trade on the subject of the procedure.
Éric Sargiacomo (S&D, French) felt that safeguard clauses of this type “are never activated” and that the cumulative effects of different trade agreements should be taken into account.
Céline Imart (EPP, French) denounced a “smokescreen designed to buy the votes of those most critical” of this agreement. In her view, safeguard clauses in no way guarantee minimum reciprocity of EU production standards.
A number of MEPs also criticised the fact that the clause is based on a 10% increase in imports within the quota (which does not take account of exports outside the quota). In addition, , this safeguard clause can be challenged in court under the rebalancing mechanism, to the benefit of the Mercosur countries.
“You are defending the indefensible”, said Mireia Borrás Pabón (PfE, Spanish) to the European Commission.
Bert-Jan Ruissen (ECR, Dutch) felt that these safeguard clauses would do nothing for farmers. In his view, the thresholds should be lower and more binding.
Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, Austrian), for his part, regretted that the Commission was not prepared to negotiate to strengthen these safeguard measures. These proposed safeguard clauses are “like putting perfume on a skunk”, quipped Luke Ming Flanagan (The Left, Irish).
Asger Christensen (Renew Europe, Danish) felt that “we need this agreement” between the EU and Mercosur, while admitting that the proposed safeguards were insufficient.
Link to the letter from the European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture: https://aeur.eu/f/jsa (Lionel Changeur)