According to Andrzej Gantner of the Polish Federation of Food Producers, the mechanisms for protecting farmers in the European Union are not effective adequate to safeguard their host interests in the event of free trade with South American countries. As the expert added, food producers from associate States will be exposed to unequal competition. South American residents are not subject to the requirements of an costly and restrictive "climate policy".
The European Commission's declarations on the protection of farmers' interests are not credible, food producers do not believe in specified announcements, the agreement with Mercosur can be signed at 1 time, but not in this form and not now," said Andrzej Gantner, Vice president of the Polish Federation of Food Producers.
On Friday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the negotiations for a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries had ended, including Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Prime Minister Donald Tusk told journalists in the Sejm that the signature of the EC chief would only start the procedure on this agreement. He stressed that part of this agreement would be subject to ratification in the EU countries either way, i.e. without the consent of the Polish Parliament "an essential part of this agreement would not enter into force anyway". But, as he added, “this is not enough.”
Commenting on these declarations, Vice president of the Polish Federation of Food Manufacturers (PFPŻ) Andrzej Gantner stated in an interview with PAP that he was sceptical about the agreement signed on this matter. – The credibility of EU mechanisms to defend agriculture is very low at the minute and I do not believe that farmers from the Mercosur countries will meet the same requirements as those imposed on their EU counterparts – he said.
He added that there was no institution or organisation that could effectively verify compliance with climate regulations in, for example, Uruguay. – If the European Commission wants to give any credibility to these findings, it should meet with EU agricultural organisations and find out if this meets their expectations. - Gantner pointed out.
He stressed that farmers anticipate equivalence, that "the same as that of EU food producers should apply to all who want to put food on the common market, both in terms of the safety and quality of life and the environmental impact". The PFR typical indicated that, given the hard economical situation of agriculture in the Union, the agreement with the Mercosur countries "may be signed, but not in this form and not now".
In the opinion of the researcher, the European Commission looks at the EU economy as something average and unified. – However, the impact of the various solutions introduced by the Commission is different in each associate State, it will affect Poland differently, or Spain or Germany. The indirect influences, i.e. how increased food imports from Mercosur to Germany will affect Polish food producers for whom the German marketplace is the largest market, are besides not investigated – he noted.
Ursula von der Leyen has been in Uruguay since Thursday, and announced on Friday that the EU and Mercosur have concluded negotiations. At the same time, it ensured that it "heard the concerns of EU farmers" and included safeguards to defend them in the agreement. In addition, the EC indicated that the agreement contained import limits for delicate goods specified as beef, poultry and sugar. The EU will receive 99 000 tonnes of beef from the Mercosur block countries each year. In addition, duties on beef will not be abolished but reduced to 7.5%.
The text of the agreement is to be different from that negotiated in 2019 and to which there was no agreement in the EU. It provides, as the Commission indicated, for the anticipation of suspending the agreement in the event of withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, on combating climate change or "action in bad faith".
The EU-Mercosur agreement has been negotiated for 25 years. It is intended to open up markets in the countries of South America to European technologies; the EC besides expects that natural materials needed to produce clean technologies, including batteries, can be obtained from these countries. However, it raises the opposition of European farmers who fear the flooding of the EU marketplace through inexpensive agricultural products from countries specified as Brazil or Argentina.
To enter into force, the agreement must be ratified by the EU. The European Commission will decide on the way of its adoption by the Community. 2 ways are possible: either the agreement will require ratification by all national parliaments, or the European Parliament and the associate States in the EU Council will gotta vote on it. In the second scenario, countries would decide by a qualified majority, which means that 15 of the 27 countries representing at least 65% of the EU population agree.
The agreements are opposed by France, Poland and Italy are besides critical. On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his support for the Mercosur agreement.
(PAP)/work. FA
