While a vote by the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU to approve the trade agreement with the Mercosur countries is scheduled for Friday 9 January, the ‘extraordinary’ meeting of the European agriculture ministers on Wednesday 7 January was intended in part to reassure reluctant Member States.
The main challenge is to obtain a favourable vote from Italy, which did an about-face at the end of December and asked for the signature of the agreement to be postponed (see EUROPE 13776/3).
On his arrival at the meeting, held in the Commission buildings in Brussels, the Italian Minister for Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, stated that “if the guarantees requested by the productive world are confirmed, we will approve the signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement”.
His comments were reinforced on Wednesday evening by those of Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, who said that his country had “always supported the conclusion of this agreement, insisting on the need to take sufficient account of the legitimate concerns of the agricultural sector”.
Rome’s support is considered crucial in this matter, as it would enable the agreement to be adopted by qualified majority (at least 15 Member States in favour, representing 65% of the EU population), given that France, Poland and Hungary are opposed.
Speaking after the meeting, the French Minister for Agriculture, Annie Genevard, said that the agreement remained “fundamentally destabilising for many sectors”.
On the contrary, countries such as Germany and Spain are supporting the signing of the agreement - which could take place on 12 January in Paraguay - in order to boost their economies.
The Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Luis Planas, welcomed the progress made on this issue. “The events of the last few days make this major trade agreement even more valuable”, he explained to a handful of journalists, referring to the trade and geopolitical tensions with the United States.
Safeguard clause. As several sources close to the matter have suggested, the safeguard clause negotiated at the end of December between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament could be reopened in order to revisit the thresholds for triggering a safeguard investigation (see EUROPE 13779/8).
According to the Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, speaking at a press conference, this clause represents “the strongest instrument we have ever adopted, the most precise and strictest legal instrument”.
The provisional agreement between the EU institutions stipulates that this safeguard investigation will be triggered in the event of an 8% rise in imports combined with an 8% fall in prices. In order to better satisfy Italy and France, these thresholds could be set at 5%, which is what Parliament wants, whereas the Commission initially proposed thresholds of 10% (see EUROPE 13775/9).
At the meeting in Brussels, the move to 5% was explicitly supported by the Italian minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, quoted by Askanews.
Maroš Šefčovič, confirmed that the thresholds of the safeguard clause would be part of the discussions between Member State ambassadors on Friday 9 January.
The ministers also discussed the need for reciprocal health, environmental and animal protection standards, and obtained a promise to review the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to limit the cost of fertilisers (see EUROPE 13781/4). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)