Irish MEP Ciaran Mullooly has claimed that the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement will "do nothing of substance" for the EU economy.

Speaking today (Tuesday, January 20) at a farmer protest in Strasbourg, France, where the European Parliament is meeting this week, Mullooly again made the case for the trade agreement's approval by member states to be referred to the Courts of Justice of the EU (CJEU).

The protest today includes farmers from Ireland, France, Italy, Poland and Romania.

The protest is being attended by representatives of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA).

Mullooly said: "Farmers across Europe are united in their opposition to this deal and must continue to fight to ensure that farmers' voices are heard and listened to at [European] Commission level.

The Independent Ireland MEP claimed that the safeguard measures and other proposals put forward by the commission to alleviate the concerns of farmers and some member states "simply will not work", claiming these were an attempt to "mislead farmers into believing they are protected".

"The Mercosur trade deal will do nothing of substance for the non-agricultural sector in Europe," he said.

According to Mullooly, latest economic indicators show that projected economic growth for Europe would be less than 0.05% up to 2040.

"By any reasonable assessment, this is insignificant when weighted against the severe damage the deal will inflict on the EU beef and poultry sectors," he commented.

Highlighting the recent discovery of a banned hormone in beef in Ireland, the Midlands-Northwest MEP said: "If ever there was a compelling reason to stop this trade agreement, the public health of EU citizens must be the red line in any political discussion."

The purpose of today's protest is to call on MEPs to vote for the deal's approval process to be referred to the CJEU, with Mullooly claiming that the commission engaged in "significant manoeuvring" in the approval process that he said may be in breach of the EU's treaties.

However, Mullooly also warned this week that US President Donald Trump's renewed threat of tariffs against several EU countries could shape the debate in the parliament on the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement.

The US president has threatened to levy tariffs on several countries, including France and Germany, as well as non-EU member states the UK and Norway, over their opposition to his demands that the US take over control of Greenland, which is administered by Denmark.

Mullooly has called for "calm and cool heads" to prevail within the EU over Trump's threat.