Minister secures direct engagement with Brussels over Mercosur concerns

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, met with EU Trade Commissioner Sefcovic on Friday, December 13, to discuss priority trade issues for Ireland. Concerns over the new Mercosur trade deal topped the Minister’s agenda.

Minister Burke said: “As Minister for Trade, but also as a public representative from a farming background in a rural constituency, I have expressed my concerns over possible unintended consequences of the Mercosur agreement." 

Minister Burke said that while no final decision on adoption was imminent, he believed that all stakeholders, and the farming community in particular, needs to be fully informed "of all aspects of the proposed future trade arrangements with the Mercosur bloc".

“Throughout the negotiations on this agreement, the Commission has been made aware of Ireland’s key requirements in relation to the trade and sustainability commitments in the agreement," he said. 

"Furthermore, we continue to make the Commission aware of our model of farming here, including the practices that farmers have implemented over the last number of decades and the sustainability measures, which are now the bedrock of Irish farming. 

"Farmers have invested significant resources into sustainability, and we must expect the same high standards for all products entering the market to ensure a level playing field, which is a concept that is at the very heart of the EU.

“Following my discussions with Commissioner Sefcovic, we have agreed that the Commission will send a special mission to Ireland to meet and engage directly with representatives of the farming organisations. 

"My Department will facilitate a series of discussions early in 2025. I am confident that this will help ensure an informed understanding for all sides of the consequences of the new Mercosur agreement text.”

Meanwhile, Environmental Pillar, Ireland’s environmental NGO advocacy coalition, is urging the next Government to reject the EU Mercosur deal when it comes before the European Council.

In a letter to the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Minister for Agriculture, Environmental Pillar said that the EU-Mercosur deal would drive habitat loss, exacerbate the climate and biodiversity crisis, while driving unfair competition, thereby accelerating the collapse of many family farms across Ireland.

Environmental Pillar Steering Committee Member and Head of Advocacy at An Taisce, Dr Elaine McGoff said: “Agricultural intensification and deforestation, compounded by climate change, is resulting in the loss and degradation of ecosystems, such as the Cerrado and the Amazon rainforest. 

"The EU-Mercosur trade deal is designed to ramp up trade in products that are driving the destruction of these ecosystems that are critical to global biodiversity and the regulation of the global climate.” 

The agreement, which will invariably involve importing vast amounts of beef into the EU market, will further undermine the profitability of small family farms across Ireland, Environmental Pillar said.

Brian Meredith from farm organisation and Environmental Pillar member Talamh Beo said: “We fear that these farms will be unable to compete with the commodities of scale, the lower standards and the lower cost of production of imported South American beef. 

"The socio-economic consequences of this could be catastrophic given that the majority of Irish farmers are engaged in some form of cattle enterprise and the sector is already in a financially vulnerable position due to poor profitability. 

"Many extensive Irish suckler farmers help to support High Nature Value farming systems and their loss would also have a negative impact on Ireland's biodiversity.” 

Environmental Pillar also criticised the lack of transparency around the deal.

Fintan Kelly, Agriculture and Land Use Policy and Advocacy Officer with Environmental Pillar, said: “For more than 25 years the negotiations that culminated in this agreement have been going on behind closed doors without public participation or transparency. 

"To date there has been a lack of openness in relation to the decision-making process and engagement with our elected representatives in the European Parliament and with National governments. 

"The lack of transparency and democratic accountability seriously undermines our trust in this trade deal. The process has already been criticised by the European Ombudsman and senior members of the European Parliaments Agri-Committee.” 

Karen Ciesielski, Environmental Pillar Coordinator, said: “This lack of democratic oversight is particularly egregious given that the EU-Mercosur trade agreement has been opposed by civil society, farmers’ groups, indigenous communities and politicians here and across Europe for over two decades.

“This trade deal will soon come before the European Council where a blocking majority of at least four EU Member States will be needed in order to block the trade deal. We appeal to you to urgently communicate Ireland’s opposition to the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement to the European Commission and President Ursula von der Leyen."