Farmer Campaign Against Mercosur to Continue and Ramp Up Despite Commission Sell Out

IFA President Francie Gorman will travel to Brussels over the weekend to meet farm leaders from across Europe on Monday to step up the campaign against the Mercosur trade deal.

This comes after EU Commission President Von Der Leyen agreed a trade deal with the Mercosur countries in Uruguay today.

“This sell out deal needs to be ratified by the EU Council of Member States; the European Parliament; and should also have to be ratified by national Parliaments. The Commission may have sold out European farmers, but there is a distance to travel yet. Essentially, we are back to where we were in 2019 with an EU Commission-agreed deal without a democratic mandate,” he said. 

The IFA President, who is also the Vice-President of COPA, the European farmer representative body, said that COPA will be co-ordinating the next steps of the campaign to oppose the deal, with a flash action protest in Brussels on Monday morning.

“While the Commission President is talking up the benefits of the deal, she makes no reference to the very damaging consequences for the beef and poultry sectors,” he said.

“Simon Harris as Taoiseach and Micheál Martin as Tánaiste told the IFA National Council during the General Election campaign that they were opposed to the Mercosur deal. They must carry this commitment forward and oppose this deal tooth and nail,” he said.

Through our Brussels office, IFA is in contact with Irish MEPs looking for their support when it comes to the ratification stage.

IFA is also in complete opposition to any splitting of the trade and political aspects of a potential Mercosur deal.  The role of national Parliaments in relation to trade deal ratification must be respected and honoured by the EU Commission.