The government is facing increased pressure to publicly express opposition to an apparent attempt by the European Commission to get the EU-Mercosur Trade deal over the line without member state approval.
Concerns emerged this week that the European Commission may be trying to ‘split’ the trade deal so that the key trade aspects would not require unanimous approval from the EU members states.
Now, independent TD for Laois-Offaly Carol Nolan has written to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke to call on them to express Ireland’s “unequivocal opposition” to these apparent machinations.
These concerns come at a time when it is thought that agreement on the final shape of the trade deal is imminent, and could be finalised in early December.
Irish and EU farming organisations have strongly opposed the deal, not least because it would allow an additional 99,000t of beef from Mercosur countries – including Brazil – to enter the EU tariff free.
Nolan said: “We need to remind people that, at the national level, suckler farmers play a key role in generating more than €2.4 billion in beef exports each year and anything that undermines that simply cannot be tolerated.
“At a local level, the point has been also well made that for every €1 we provide to suckler farmers, more than €4 of economic activity is generated in local economies,” the TD added.
“This clearly demonstrates the potential damage that this awful trade deal will bring about if it is not effectively challenged.
“We must face the clear fact that such a move by the European Commission would diminish us all by embedding anti-democratic trade measures in to a system that already has appalling democratic deficits in place,” Nolan claimed.
She called for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to “put up or shut up when it comes to protecting farm incomes”.
Nolan’s comments come after the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) said it has “deep concern” over reports that the trade agreement could be split, separating out the trade provisions from less pressing aspects.
ICSA president Sean McNamara said this week: “This is nothing short of a calculated move to force through a deal that will devastate Irish farming and rural communities without proper scrutiny or democratic input. Ursula von der Leyen and her commission appear determined to ram this through, knowing full well the damage it will do.”