EU Commission in Ireland condemns 'no' vote on Mercosur deal
The head of the European Commission in Ireland has condemned the Irish government’s decision to vote against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement.
Peter Power said that Ireland’s stance focused too narrowly on the concerns of beef farmers.
He believes that the positives of the deal, for the likes of industry and services, "didn’t get a hearing" during the debates in Ireland.
Vote
Power told EU News Radio he was disappointed by the decision of the government which he said "was based on a very unbalanced appreciation of what Mercosur is all about".
"All of the all that is positive in Mercosur has been eclipsed by a single, very narrow focus on beef farmers.
"Beef farmers have had legitimate concerns, but these concerns have been taken on board. These concerns have been addressed," he said.
Power said that the deal will lead to “increased controls” and extra safeguard measures on beef imports from the Mercosur South American countries to the EU.
"We've introduced increased controls in terms of the points of entry into the European Union. We've introduced increased controls in terms of spot checks on the abattoirs," he said.
"We have given cast iron guarantees that these controls and checks will be increased, that the consumer will be absolutely safe in terms of what he or she will actually buy in the supermarket.
"Beef will be labeled as coming from Brazil or wherever it comes from, so there's no question of the consumer being unaware of what he or she is actually buying.
"But all of the advantages, including for industry, including for services, didn't get a hearing in this debate, and that is the real tragedy," Power added.
Mercosur
The comments come as representatives of EU member states have voted in favour of adopting the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement in a key vote today (Friday, January 9).
Government sources told Agriland that the trade deal was adopted in the vote by a qualified majority.
It is understood that five member states - Ireland, France, Poland, Austria and Hungary - decided to vote against the deal while Belgium abstained.
All other member states voted in favour, including Italy, which had indicated in December that it had hesitations about the deal.
However, in recent days the Italian government appeared to have been won over by concessions from the commission.
The European Parliament will now have to vote in favour of the deal in the coming weeks, before it can be ratified.
