EU Commission Guilty of Playing Fast and Loose With Its Own Rules on Mercosur Trade Deal

IFA President Tim Cullinan said it was astonishing that the EU Commission would attempt to proceed with a Mercosur deal without a full assessment of the deal.

He was reacting to a decision announced by the EU Ombudsman on the EU Commission’s approach to the trade deal.

“The Ombudsman is correct when she says that EU projects its values through its trade deals,” he said.

The Ombudsman went onto say concluding a trade agreement before its potential impact has been fully assessed risks undermining those values and the public’s ability to debate the merits of the deal.

The IFA President said there was an onus on the Commission to publish the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) without delay.

“The question arises now as to what is in the SIA and what was the motivation for failing to complete it. Farmers will be curious as to why the Mercosur trade deal is the only time this has happened,” he said.

The IFA President said the approach of the Commission undermines its credibility to act on behalf of Member States.

“The Commission’s stance on Mercosur is at odds with its other policies on Farm to Fork and the Green Deal. Agreeing to extra beef imports while imposing greater restrictions on European and Irish farmers is deeply contradictory,” he said.