The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to refer the EU-Mercosur trade agreement to the EU Court of Justice, a move that significantly delays the deal and could potentially derail its final approval.
As expected, the vote was tight, with 334 MEPs in favour of the referral, 324 against, and 11 abstaining.
The agreement signed on 17 January, which will create a free trade area of over 700 million people, is controversial across Europe, and several countries like France and Poland have opposed it.
The agreement’s advocates consider it a major opportunity for European industries and a way to bolster the EU’s geostrategic position, especially at a time of constant friction with the United States. But it has also drawn outrage from farmers worried about the implications of cheap and lower-standard food from South American countries flooding into the European market.
So, why didn’t they listen? It is a clearly understandable concern, isn’t it?
There are many quotas on agricultural products from south America to the point where major South American agro exports can only supply 1-10% of total current EU consumption tariff free. I believe honey was highest around 10% of total EU demand with most being around 1-3% such as for beef. For most agro products, South America exports more stuff to Europe than the tariffs would cover
To mee, it seems these quotes probably mean there will be little change in agro exports from South America since the tariff on those items have only been slightly relieved. We should definitely protect EU farmers but we shouldn’t hold up the rest of the economy for them.