Paulo Novais / Lusa
A “historic step forward” for some, but an invasion of Europe for many farmers, who fear for the future.
The Council of European Union today announced the approval of the agreement trade with four countries in the Mercosur, which should be signed this Monday by the president of the European Commission in Paraguay.
This approval was welcomed by the Cypriot Minister of Trade, Michael Damianos, who currently holds the presidency of the EU Council, considering that today marks “an historic step moving forward in strengthening the EU’s strategic partnership with Mercosur”.
“In a time of increasing global uncertainty, it is essential to strengthen our political cooperation, deepen our economic ties and maintain our commitment to sustainable development”, reads a note from the minister released by the EU Council.
The President of the European Council, António Costa, welcomed the approval of the agreement: it is “good for Europe” and brings “real benefits to European consumers and companies”.
“It is important for the sovereignty and strategic autonomy of the EU. With this agreement, the EU is shaping the global economy”, says the former prime minister, who adds that this agreement also reinforces “workers’ rights, environmental protection and safeguards for European farmers”.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, believes that this is “a decisive step” to strengthen economic and political relations between Europe and Latin America.
“More losses than gains”
But National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) warned that the agreement between the EU and Mercosur will have “more losses than gains” and argued that the farmers will have their income yet more pills.
“Over the last few years we have been warning about the negative consequences of this agreement for farmers and, therefore, we see this as very bad news, especially for the more peripheral countries, such as Portugal, which already have problems with agricultural abandonment and imbalances in the trade balance”, pointed out CNA leader Vítor Rodrigues, speaking to Lusa.
. sacrificed agriculture “on the altar of large industries”, particularly from Germany and France, opening the door to products from Mercosur, which will compress farmers’ incomes.
The confederation still claimed to be impossible to monitor “from the other side of the ocean with the criteria on this side” and highlighted the impact that will be felt in sectors such as beef.
“What we will lose will be much more than anything that can be gainedr”, I insisted.
Farmers ask Europe to find ways to dignify their income within this framework of trade liberalization.
Among the instruments available, Vítor Rodrigues highlights the prohibition on purchasing agricultural products below the production price.
“A priority of the European Union in this process it was never agriculture, but large industry, such as automobiles”, he lamented.
CNA leader Vítor Rodrigues considered that the price of oil is already high and that the tariffs applied do not constitute a decisive factor in determining the value of this product.
As regards the cheeses, the confederation said that, from the point of view of the main components of human nutrition, the gain in this sector is not comparable to the losses in the beef, pork and poultry sectors.
Paris was the scene of a large-scale one this Thursday. French farmers fear the invasion of Europe by competitive products with less production control from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
