European Union lawmakers on Tuesday called for tighter controls on imports of agricultural products resulting from a possible trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur, potentially addressing complaints from critics of the deal.
The vote comes a day after France joined Italy in pushing for the postponement of the vote on the agreement. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen intended to travel to Brazil on Saturday to sign the deal, but this requires the support of EU members.
The European Union and the bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay reached an agreement last December to create the biggest trade deal in the EU’s history, some 25 years after negotiations began.
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The European Commission presented the agreement for approval in September and sought to ease opposition by adding a mechanism that would allow the suspension of Mercosur’s preferential access to some agricultural products, such as beef, poultry and sugar.
Under the agreement, the trigger for launching an investigation should be if import volumes increase by more than 10% per year or if prices fall by that amount in one or more EU members.
However, the European Parliament voted on Tuesday for a lower trigger level of 5% compared to a three-year average of imports, as well as for shorter investigations to introduce safeguards earlier. They also want safeguards to be applied if Mercosur agricultural imports do not comply with EU production standards, something France has demanded.
The changes mean that representatives in Parliament will have to negotiate a compromise with their counterparts in the Council, the group of EU governments, which had supported the 10% figure. These negotiations should begin on Wednesday.
