The agricultural community’s fears have “materialised” today (Friday, December 6) following the agreement on the EU-Mercosur trade deal according to one of Europe’s largest farming organisations.
Copa and Cogeca, which represents more than 22 million farmers, warned that if accepted by member states and the European Parliament, the agreement “will have profound consequences for family farming across Europe affecting also 450 million of EU consumers”.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and her counterparts from four Mercosur countries – Brazilian president Lula, Argentinian president Milei, Paraguayan president Peña, and Uruguayan president Lacalle Pou – confirmed that they had “finalised negotiations” for the highly controversial trade agreement.
President Von der Leyen has described it as a “win-win agreement”.
“We have listened to the concerns of our farmers and we acted on them.
“This agreement includes robust safeguards to protect your livelihoods,” she said.
According to president of the European Commission, Mercosur “is the biggest agreement ever, when it comes to the protection of EU food and drinks products”.
Mercosur
But Copa and Cogeca – whose vice-president is Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman – today warned that the The EU agricultural sector remains “particularly vulnerable to the concessions made in the unbalanced agricultural chapter of this agreement”.
The organisation said that Mercosur countries “do not meet the production standards required of EU agriculture, whether in terms of plant protection products, animal welfare, or sustainability practices”.
It has also highlighted that Mercosur nations “operate under lower labor and safety standards, enabling them to produce at lower costs, which makes fair competition impossible for EU producers”.
Copa president, Massimiliano Giansanti, said: “Even before presenting its vision for the Future of Agriculture, the commission has sent a very worrying message to millions of farmers across Europe.
“This is especially concerning during such a delicate phase of reopening dialogue between farmers and European institutions.
“Member states and MEPs must now firmly challenge the terms of this agreement and work towards a solution that guarantees a fair and balanced approach to protect the EU’s farming model.”