The EU-Mercosur agreement passes, green light thanks to Italy’s yes

France and Ireland against, Belgium abstains, Italy in favor

France, Hungary, Ireland, Poland and Austria voted against giving the green light to the agreement, while Belgium abstained and Italy voted in favour, diplomatic sources said. Despite their opposition, the opposing front has therefore not achieved the necessary weight to prevent the adoption by qualified majority, i.e. the support of at least 15 Member States representing at least 65% of the EU population, reached thanks to Italy’s yes during a meeting of ambassadors of EU countries in Brussels.

Safeguards also approved

In the same session, the safeguards negotiated in December were formally approved, which still have to be adopted by the European Parliament in plenary session, to strengthen the protection of the European agri-food sector in the face of potential serious distortions caused by the opening to the Mercosur market in sectors such as poultry, beef, eggs, citrus and sugar. The new framework establishes specific thresholds so that the European Commission can initiate investigations, and if necessary activate specific measures, if there is a strong impact on sensitive European agricultural products. In December, the European Council and Parliament had agreed to set these thresholds at 8%, but they were reduced to 5%, as initially supported by the European Chamber, to satisfy Rome’s requests. Now Brussels will intervene when imports of sensitive products increase by an average of 5% and prices will fall by the same percentage over a three-year period (versus the 10% initially proposed by the Commission).

It is understood that the Cypriot Presidency of the European Council has verified the existence of broad support from Member States to launch the written procedure by which the approval will be formalised. The process is expected to end at 5 p.m.

Yes about Italy: what Meloni, Tajani and Lollobrigida say

“I have never had an ideological preclusion towards the Mercosur agreement. We have always said that we will be in favor when there are sufficient guarantees for our farmers”, he commented Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the press conference at the beginning of the year. “The potential of the agreement is good, but not to the detriment of the excellence of our production”, therefore “we have secured different interests, those of the farmers and the industrial push. It seems to me that the balance is sustainable and I hope that the agreement can only bring advantages”, explained the prime minister.

“The agreement reached by the EU countries on Mercosur is good news for Italy. The free trade agreement between the eurozone countries with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay represents a great opportunity for all our companies”, he underlined Foreign Minister Antonio Tajanicommenting on the green light. “An agreement – he reiterates – intended to increase our exports, with the aim of reaching 700 billion in exports. It was a long negotiation but thanks to the work of the entire country system we have guaranteed the right protection to our farmers, especially regarding production standards”.

“I thank Ambassador Vincenzo Celeste who today reiterated the positions of the Italian Government, obtaining as a final result the lowering of the threshold of the safeguard mechanism from 8 to 5%, and the strengthening of the control system for goods entering the European Union”, he then stated the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida in reference to the latest developments of the free trade treaty and announcing that “Coreper has given signature mandate to the European Commission to continue along the path that will lead to the approval of the trade treaty”.

“Farmers will therefore have a more effective protection mechanism should there be disturbances in the prices of agricultural products and will be able to count on an effective application of the principle of reciprocity” underlines Lollobrigida.

“If companies are not competitive, it is our very sovereignty that is at risk and for this reason the 6.3 billion euro fund for the mitigation of potential market disruptions – he adds – together with the elimination of duties and cost increases for fertilizers foreseen by the Cbam regulation guarantee our companies better conditions for production”. “Italy is on the side of farmers and works to ensure that our system remains thriving and can guarantee Italian and European citizens the possibility of choosing quality food” underlines Lollobrigida.