On Monday 8 December, the members of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) adopted their negotiating position on the regulation establishing a specific safeguard mechanism in the future trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. Unlike the Member States (see EUROPE 13755/21), MEPs are proposing a number of changes to the European Commission’s proposal (see EUROPE 13726/26).
Although negotiations on the report by Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spanish) took place at high speed, the political groups agreed on four compromise amendments before the vote, all of which were adopted, along with a small handful of other amendments.
Firstly, MEPs want the increased surveillance of 23 products imported from Mercosur to be extended to other categories at the request of an industry concerned. An amendment tabled by The Left and adopted by the INTA committee adds another category of products to the list proposed by the Commission: oranges, lemons and mandarins.
In addition, an amendment tabled by a number of MEPs, most of them Polish, covers the possible circumvention of safeguard measures by other importing countries. If the Commission identifies circumvention through changes in trade routes, it may extend the scope of application to these imports, depending on the position adopted.
With regard to the safeguard mechanism, MEPs want to review the thresholds that should trigger the mechanism in order to be even more reactive: an increase of 5% in imports compared to the average of the previous three years should be considered as serious harm to the industry, according to the amendments adopted. An investigation must be launched if this 5% increase is observed and if the import price of the product is 5% lower than domestic prices.
MEPs also specify that the European Commission should not limit itself to these strict thresholds when assessing whether there has been significant damage to the European agricultural sector.
As for the duration of investigations, they should be shortened further, according to MEPs, who give the Commission three months to trigger a safeguard after opening an investigation. It should even be possible to shorten the deadline by two months for the most difficult cases.
For situations considered very sensitive, the European Commission should be able to adopt provisional safeguard measures after 14 days of investigation, rather than 21, according to the latest compromise amendment adopted.
The INTA Committee also endorsed a proposal by Renew Europe Group MEPs Benoit Cassart (Belgian) and Jérémy Decerle (French) on the reciprocity of production standards. The amendment tabled by these two professional farmers provides for “the introduction of an obligation of reciprocity concerning products and production standards”.
The INTA Committee’s position will be put to a vote by the whole European Parliament next week. Negotiations will then begin with the Council of the EU to find a common position. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)