Mercosur Agreement is ‘a rotten deal’ - Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin MEPs Kathleen Funchion and Lynn Boylan have called on the EU Commission to scrap plans for the provisional application of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, with Boylan calling it “a rotten deal”.
This follows the latest economic research on the potential impact of the agreement, which indicates that the trade deal will lead to extra pressure on small European farmers and the global environment, with little economic growth.
Speaking from Strasbourg, Funchion referred to media reports of the economic analysis, which she said “vindicates our long-held position that the trade deal is not in the interest of the vast majority involved”.
She said: “The latest research finds the commission’s economic forecasts unrealistic and that the only big winner from the deal is a handful of large companies in Europe.
“This will come at the expense of small family farms, who will come under pressure due to price imports, and the Mercosur economies themselves which this report expects to shrink due to the deal.
“It is beyond clear that the cost of this deal far outweighs the benefits for both sides.
“After all the underhanded tactics of the commission, it is not too late to take on board these new expert economic findings, and finally listen to the farmers who stood up against the deal."
The MEP said she and her Sinn Féin colleague are calling on the commission to "keep their word" to the European Parliament by not provisionally applying the Mercosur deal this Friday (May 1) and to "scrap the deal".
The EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, which will allow an additional 99,000t of beef from Mercosur countries into the EU at a considerably reduced tariff, is set to apply from Friday.
‘Rotten deal’
Also speaking from Strasbourg, MEP Lynn Boylan said: “This is further evidence that Mercosur is truly a rotten deal which will only benefit a handle of corporations, while sacrificing our environment, threatening our public health, and sabotaging our small farmers.
“The economic argument for Mercosur has always been less than convincing to say the least, with appeals to global trade liberalisation to mitigate Trump’s damaging agenda coming at an opportunistic time.
“The reality is, Mercosur is a life-ring for a small number of large European companies and everyone else is supposed to pay for it to one extent or another.”
Boylan said that the commission and MEPs "particularly Irish MEPs who supported Mercosur, must take this on board and not only overturn the decision on provisional application, but reject outright this rotten deal".
“This deal would be a drag on both our economies and more importantly on peoples’ livelihoods and the global environment," the MEP added.
