Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin, Lynn Boylan has called on the European Commission to recognise the “large public opposition” to the EU-Mercosur trade deal and to halt negotiations.
Boylan said negotiations on the deal are currently taking place in Brazil between EU and South American negotiators. Movements on Mercosur had previously been on hold to ensure sustainability limits.
Among its many provisions, the trade deal would allow up to an additional 99,000t of beef from its four member countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – to enter the EU tariff-free.
The MEP said the Mercosur trade deal takes an “outdated approach” to international trade that no longer matches the EU’s priorities, particularly the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Mercosur
Commenting on negotiations between the EU and South American negotiators, Boylan, who is a coordinator for the Left Group on the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, said:
“Mercosur is an old-style Free Trade Agreement which aims to increase exports of environmentally damaging products: beef and soy feeds on the one hand, and cars and pesticides on the other.
“The environmental consequences of Mercosur will be devastating, from deforestation to increased pesticide use. The deal also threatens indigenous peoples who are suffering land-grabs for the sake of industrial agriculture.
“These problems are clear to many people opposed to Mercosur, from environmentalists and farmers to several national and federal governments within Europe. Irish people are seriously worried about the impacts of the Mercosur agreement.”
The Sinn Féin MEP said the European Commission needs to recognise this “opposition” and stop “stubbornly railroading through this last-century deal”.
“The commission talks a good talk about sustainable trade but no amount of tacked-on sustainability provisions will make the Mercosur deal actually sustainable,” Boylan added.
While the commission is leading the negotiations, the MEP said a “clear commitment” is needed from the Taoiseach that the government will reject the deal which, Boylan said, is “fundamentally contrary to our environmental goals”.