HomeEconomyWhy the possible agreement between the EU and Mercosur revives agricultural discontent

Why the possible agreement between the EU and Mercosur revives agricultural discontent

The progress of negotiations between the EU and the South American Mercosur countries on a free trade agreement has raised the ire of agricultural unions.

The rapprochement between Europe and South America is remobilizing agricultural unions. The beginning of the year was interrupted for several weeks by a movement of anger among some farmers, which then spread across much of the European continent, and the revolt could resume in autumn in France. In Occitania, where the winter movement began, several actions have been observed in recent days, in Gers and Ariège. Meanwhile, the majority unions have called for a new mobilization starting in mid-November.

If climatic conditions, poor harvests and the resurgence of animal diseases are not unrelated to the explosive situation on the ground, the progress of discussions on a free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American countries of Mercosur were “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” “camel’s back,” lamented the president of Young Farmers (JA), Pierrick Horel, during the press conference held by his union and the FNSEA, the two legs of the majority union alliance. Agricultural organizations fear a possible conclusion of these negotiations at the end of the year.

Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay

Negotiations on a free trade agreement began in the early 2000s with the four founding countries of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), that is, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, now joined by Bolivia-Venezuela , who joined the organization in 2012, has been suspended for several years. A political agreement was concluded in June 2019, but its adoption was blocked by opposition from several EU Member States, including France, which considered it insufficient on several points, in particular the environmental one.

In fact, it is the agricultural issue that raises strong reservations on the part of some European countries. The EU-Mercosur agreement, on paper, should make it possible to increase trade relations between the two economic blocs by reducing and liberalizing certain customs barriers. In the agricultural field, the 2019 text provided for the application of quotas for certain food products, corresponding to a certain quantity of South American products exported to the EU without customs duties: 180,000 tons for sugar or 99,000 tons for beef, for example.

Questioned this Wednesday on RTL, the president of the FNSEA denounced a “European incoherence” in this regard, stating that a free trade agreement with Mercosur would open the way to the import of agricultural products produced “under conditions that are not ours.”

The latter considered that he had “no guarantee” about the “mirror clauses” and “reciprocity” promised several times by Emmanuel Macron to make a possible agreement acceptable in the eyes of France.

France “increasingly isolated”

Depending on the chosen scenario, approval of the trade aspect of the EU-Mercosur agreement could only require a qualified majority (15 of 27 Member States), and not unanimity. In this case, France could not oppose it alone, especially since some European heavyweights, such as Germany, defend its adoption.

The EU-Mercosur agreement not only provokes criticism in France. This Tuesday, in a joint statement, seven European agricultural organizations described as “provocative” the idea of ​​a compensation fund for farmers, in which the European Commission would be working to compensate for the possible consequences of the agreement, as reported by the European Commission. political means.

Author: Jérémy Bruno with AFP
Source: BFM TV

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