The Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU is looking to breathe new life into the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement.
Sweden took up the rotating presidency of the council at the beginning of the year, and will hold the role until the end of June.
At an informal meeting of EU trade ministers on Friday (March 10), Sweden’s trade minister Johan Forssell, as well as European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis, both expressed hope that the deal could be progressed in the coming months.
The EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement has come in for much criticism across Europe, not least in Ireland.
The deal would allow for an additional 99,000t of beef from the South America trade association – currently comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay – to enter the EU tariff-free.
This aspect of the deal has drawn the ire of farm organisations and rural politicians here, particularly due to the link between Brazilian beef production and deforestation of the Amazon region.
Back in August, it was announced that the EU was working on drawing up a legal instrument to accompany the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement in order to address environmental issues in the deal – including food production linked to deforestation.
Speaking after Friday’s meeting, Commissioner Dombrovskis said that the commission is in the process of consulting the member states and the European Parliament on this mechanism, which he referred to a “sustainability instrument”.
Preliminary consultation on this instrument has also taken place with the Mercosur countries, Commissioner Dombrovskis said.
The trade commissioner said: “So this work is advancing. Indeed we think there is a window of opportunity.”
An EU-Latin America Summit is set to take place in July. Commissioner Dombrovkis said he expects “decisive progress” on the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement by that time.
Swedish trade minister Forssell commented that he would “love to sign such an FTA [free trade agreement] during the Swedish presidency”.
“That might be too optimistic but we could at least conclude it in the coming months,” he added.
“We are doing what we can to give such a push forward. I believe, from the discussions we have had so far during the meeting here, that there is genuine support among the member states for moving in this direction,” the Swedish minister said.
He added: “Such an FTA is a very big thing. There are concerns and detailed aspects of it, but I still believe we are moving in the right direction and being very enthusiastic about it. You can count on the Swedish presidency to do our best to give it a big push forward.
Ireland was represented at this meeting by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney.
He commented: “There is a view that it is possible that it concludes before the end of the year. I think there are still serious issues to be discussed.
“From an Irish perspective, we’re unusually impacted potentially by Mercosur because we’re such a large exporter of beef within the EU, but we’re also a country that believes in international trade,” Minister Coveney added.
“We are trying to work through these issues with other colleagues and with the European Commission, but our general approach towards trade and trade agreements is to be positive and try to make them work.
“We will try to be constructive in the context of Mercosur also, while recognising that Ireland has particular concerns that we need to try and protect against,” he commented.