The Government will oppose the new Mercosur trade deal between the EU and South American countries because of the threat to Irish farming interests, setting up conflict with Brussels from the outset of Ursula von der Leyen’s second term at the helm of the European Commission.
Irish officials will examine the details of the agreement Ms von der Leyen signed in Montevideo, Uruguay, with the leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The contentious deal was under discussion for 25 years.
But a spokesman for Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said Mr Martin’s opposition to the agreement remained unchanged.
Both the Tánaiste and Taoiseach Simon Harris vowed to oppose the deal in its then form during the election campaign. With formal talks on a new coalition led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael set to begin next week, the two leaders came under immediate pressure not to waver from their election stance.
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“Irish farmers will be calling in the promissory notes,” said the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) dismissed the Mercosur pact as a “sell-out deal”, saying European farmers will stage a flash action protest in Brussels next Monday.
Sinn Féin called on the Government to block the “rotten deal”, with MEP Kathleen Funchion saying farmers and environmentalists were “united in their opposition”. The Labour Party said it was “a disaster for Irish farmers and our planet”.
However, officials in Dublin said Ireland does not have a veto and cannot on its own block the deal. Only a blocking minority of 12 countries representing at least 35 per cent of the EU’s population can do so.
Despite pressure from farm groups, Independent TDs who will soon enter discussions on forming the next coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael played down the prospect of Mercosur featuring. “That’s a problem for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to deal with,” said one TD.
[ EU and Mercosur clinch trade deal after 25 years of talksOpens in new window ]
Ms von der Leyen, whose second five-year term began on Sunday, said the deal was a “win-win agreement” with benefits for consumers and businesses on both sides.
“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.
Brussels has cast the deal as a boost to strategic trade and political ties with the Mercosur countries, saying it will have only a “limited impact on the EU beef market” and will open opportunities for European farmers.
“The agreement does not give duty-free access to Mercosur beef. It will allow 99,000 tonnes of Mercosur beef to enter the EU market with a 7.5 per cent duty,” the commission said.
“Fifty-five per cent of the quota will consist of fresh or chilled meat and 45 per cent of lower-value frozen meat. The overall volume represents 1.6 per cent of total European beef production and is less than half of the current imports from Mercosur, which are at 196,000 tonnes (2023).”
However, the IFA said farmers had been sold out and called on the Government to oppose the deal.
“While the Commission President is talking up the benefits of the deal, she makes no reference to the very damaging consequences for the beef and poultry sectors,” said IFA president Francie Gorman.
ICMSA president Denis Drennan accused Ms von der Leyen of sprinting to the finishing line to sign the deal to take advantage of the political crisis in France – an opponent of the Mercosur deal because of agricultural and environmental concerns.
As the French government collapsed this week, Paris branded the Mercosur deal “unacceptable”.
Mr Drennan said: “The cynicism of a commission that pretends to care about the effects of intensive commercial farming on the environment and has predicated EU farming policy on the absolute need for sustainability while moving – all the while – towards a trade agreement that every single reputable environmental commentator and group have identified as representing a possibly terminal threat to the planet’s most important forests is, frankly, jaw-dropping.”
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