Farmers’ anger: what is the EU-MERCOSUR agreement that is being discussed?

This agreement is one of the points that farmers oppose. While unrest continues in France, the European Union (EU) continues trade negotiations with MERCOSUR, South America’s common economic market of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. Emmanuel Macron spoke out again on Tuesday. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, is due to meet this Thursday in Brussels with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in particular on this issue.

What does the agreement between the EU and MERCOSUR provide for?

According to viepublic, this is one of the most important trade agreements in the world, affecting about 780 million people and import and export volumes of between 40 and 45 billion euros. Negotiations that began in 2000 culminated politically in 2019 with the signing of a memorandum of understanding. But opposition from several countries, including France, blocked its final adoption, which, on the other hand, was defended by Germany.

Specifically, this agreement provides for the almost complete or partial, depending on the product, abolition of customs duties between the EU and MERCOSUR member countries, in particular on industrial (vehicles, medicines, etc.) and agricultural issues.

The main point of tension: the food issue. The agreement plans to set quotas below which South American products are not taxed: 180,000 tons per year for sugar, 100,000 tons per year for poultry and 99,000 tons per year for beef. The full list also includes pork (25,000 tons per year) and rice (60,000 tons per year).

In return, the taxes imposed by Mercosur on European goods will be removed from many goods: wine, chocolate, cookies, soft drinks and even spirits. According to the then European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan, dairy products, as well as cheeses produced in the EU, would be subject to “large quotas” without taking into account taxes.

Why are farmers against this?

Large farmer unions are denouncing “unfair competition” from large South American farms. Back in 2018, the former president of FNSEA, the main farmers’ union, Christiane Lambert, expressed concerns in our columns about the proposed EU-MERCOSUR agreement. “30,000 farms are at risk, and four sectors are affected: ethanol, sugar, beef and poultry,” she said at the time.

Farmers also demand that imported products meet the same standards as French products. At the end of 2023, French specialists in the production of sugar, poultry, grains and meat expressed regret over the lack of “mirror provisions” on “ecological and sanitary production standards,” recalls Terre-net. They therefore fear that the European market will be flooded with products that do not meet European standards, such as GMO corn or “antibiotic-laced chicken.”

The Peasant Confederation, the third agricultural union classified on the left, for its part demands that France actively participate in ending the MERCOSUR negotiations.

What is France’s position?

On this score, the answer seems to have always been clear. France is “very clearly opposed” to signing the agreement, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal insisted this Friday. This Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron again repeated his opposition to the agreement, since the rules are not “homogeneous with ours”.

On Monday, the French President already announced that the negotiations were interrupted due to opposition from France. “As far as we understand, it (the Commission) instructed its negotiators to stop the negotiations that were taking place in Brazil,” the Elysee Palace emphasized.

Back in August 2019, Emmanuel Macron suspended the signing of this trade agreement. He particularly condemned then-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s “lies” about the environment and his “inaction in the face of climate change, including fires.” The same position the following year, faced with a “serious” problem of deforestation.

Where are the negotiations?

The terms of the agreement between Mercosur and the EU “have not been fulfilled,” the European Commission admitted on Tuesday. “Currently, the Commission’s analysis shows that the conditions for concluding negotiations with Mercosur have not been met,” said Eric Mamer, a Commission spokesman.

But “discussions are ongoing and the European Union continues to pursue its goal of achieving an agreement that respects the EU’s goals in terms of sustainability and that respects our sensitivities, especially in the agricultural field,” he added. Talks between EU and Mercosur negotiators took place last week in Brazil and “discussions at a technical level will continue,” Eric Mamer said.