EU‑Mercosur trade deal stirs protests in France and Poland
Nothing is set in stone yet, but negotiations between the EU and Mercosur countries regarding a free trade agreement for food have concluded with an accord. The farmer.pl service examined how many products from the association's countries are currently being imported into the European Union and Poland.
The agreement between the EU and Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, is causing protests in the Union. Governments from Poland and France, as well as activists and farmers, are raising concerns that production standards in South America and Europe are drastically different. This poses issues both for European producers, who face higher costs on the so-called Old Continent, and for environmentalists and activists advocating for animal welfare.
The European Commission assures that import restrictions to the EU market will be implemented to protect local producers from cheaper food from Mercosur countries. For farmers, this would represent a new situation, as demonstrated by Eurostat data.
According to the farmer.pl service, European statistical office data indicates that in 2023, Poland did not import pork, poultry, or eggs from Mercosur association countries. However, the entire EU imported 72,000 eggs last year.
France and Poland against the Mercosur agreement
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, during a conference in Warsaw with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, expressed his reservations about the agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries. The French leader fears the agreement will negatively impact the European agricultural market.
Macron emphasized that he will not agree to the agreement in its current form and expects further clarifications from the European Commission. He stated that he does not intend to sacrifice French agriculture in the name of mercantilism. He added that trade should align with principles of ecology and sovereignty.
For the agreement to come into effect, it must be ratified by the European Union. There are two possible routes: either the agreement will require ratification by all national parliaments, or it will need approval from the European Parliament and the member states in the EU Council.
In the second scenario, states would decide by a qualified majority, which means approval from 15 out of 27 countries representing at least 65% of the EU's population.
