MEP Lynn Boylan debates EU-MERCOSUR Trade Agreement as a ‘win-win’ deal!

Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/eudebates Last month, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen and her counterparts from four South American countries finalised negotiations for a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur countries.

The controversial trade agreement would allow an additional 99,000t of beef enter the EU tariff-free from Mercosur countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia.

The political agreement will open up the EU market to goods from Mercosur, but limits imports from those countries of “sensitive agricultural products” such as beef, ethanol, pork, honey, sugar and poultry.

The EU-Mercosur trade agreement is a “win win” deal that paves the way for new export opportunities for EU companies and will boost the bloc’s economic security and sustainability commitments.

That’s according to the EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic who was speaking before the European Parliament’s Committee for International Trade (INTA) today (Thursday, January 16).

Final negotiations on the deal between the EU and the Mercosur countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay were reached last December.

But the agreement still faces scrutiny by the European Parliament and EU countries. This morning, Commissioner Sefcovic said the deal offers “a unique opportunity to create a market of over seven hundred million consumers”.

EU News Radio has reported that the commissioner said: “The agreement will enhance competitiveness for EU businesses.

“The reduction of Mercosur’s high tariffs will significantly boost the competitiveness of the EU companies in Mercosur markets opening up new opportunities across diverse sectors and enabling EU exporters to save over €4 billion annually in customs duties.

“This is the biggest agreement ever concluded by the EU. It’s four times bigger than the one concluded with Japan.”

The commissioner also told the committee that the partnership agreement “considerably” improves market access for many EU agri-food products in a market of two hundred and eighty million consumers.

“Currently EU agri-food exports face tariffs ranging from 10-35% in Mercosur countries. The partnership agreement will eliminate or reduce high duties for key EU agri-food exports including wine and spirits, olive oil and malt chocolate,” he added.

“In addition, the partnership agreement will provide for zero duty TRQ [tariff rate quotas] for sizeable volumes of several dairy products such as cheese, milk powder and infant food.

“349 EU geographical indications will be protected in the Mercosur countries, which makes this agreement the most comprehensive agreement ever negotiated for protecting European food and drinks,” the commissioner said.

The EU trade commissioner has factored in a scenario of a possible decline in EU beef prices and production. However, Brussels is ready to mitigate this with a reserve of at least €1 billion! he European Commission once again reassures European farmers who are on the warpath over the signing of the free trade agreement with Mercosur countries. An agreement that Brussels says should also be evaluated for “its geopolitical importance” not only from an economic perspective. However, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič reiterated, “agriculture will not pay for other sectors.”

The Slovenian commissioner, who was a key figure on Dec. 6 along with Ursula von der Leyen in the Montevideo summit that sealed the end of negotiations after a quarter century, discussed the terms of the agreement today (Jan. 16) with members of the European Parliament’s International Trade (INTA) committee. Jan. 30, members of the Agriculture Committee will expect him for a similar debate.

Responding to the Chamber’s doubts about the benefits the mutual opening of markets will bring to the European agri-business supply chain, Šefčovič countered with numbers featuring several zeros. Companies on the old continent will have access to a market of “280 million consumers with growing purchasing power.” Thanks to the gradual dismantling of tariffs, they will “save over 4 billion a year.” The simplification of customs procedures, Šefčovič insisted, will be “crucial,” especially for the “26 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises that export in the Mercosur area.”

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