Who's afraid of the EU-Mercosur Agreement?

euronews (in English)

Vilified by some, defended by others and misunderstood by many, the “Mercosur Agreement” is a passionate subject these days on farms across the European Union and especially in France.

Transcript

00:00The agreement with Mercosur seems completely absurd.

00:02The competitiveness of our companies is going to be strengthened.

00:07Bribed by some, defended by others, misunderstood by many,

00:10the so-called Mercosur agreement generates these days

00:13great passions in the farms of the entire European Union,

00:16especially here in France.

00:18The European Commission has just signed it,

00:20to the great dismay of almost all French farmers

00:23who openly oppose an ambitious and complex agreement

00:27that has been in negotiations for 25 years.

00:34The Common Market of the South, Mercosur and the European Union

00:37have agreed to trade goods with reduced or without aranceles.

00:41If ratified, it would create a market of about 800 million people,

00:45one of the largest free trade areas in the world.

00:49It would eliminate more than 90% of aranceles between Brazil,

00:52Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and the 27 community countries.

00:57It would imply less taxes on cars, industrial equipment

01:01and European chemical products,

01:03in addition to clothing, pharmaceutical products and some agri-foods.

01:08In return, the EU would open its markets more to Mercosur,

01:11in particular to its agri-food products.

01:15Free taxes on sugar and corral bees would increase.

01:19Mercosur could also export to Europe

01:2199,000 additional tons of vaccine with reduced aranceles.

01:251.6% of its annual production in Europe.

01:31Germany and Spain support the agreement.

01:33Italy has sent contradictory signals.

01:36Poland, and in particular France, are against it.

01:39Its farmers say that Mercosur producers

01:42will not be subject to European labor standards and costs,

01:45nor to their strict regulation of pesticides,

01:48or hormones and antibiotics in animals.

01:51They also denounce that the agreement

01:53disarms consumers and threatens the sustainability

01:56of European farms.

02:05But even within the powerful French agri-food sector,

02:09opinions are quite divided.

02:11Less aranceles and more open markets

02:14would harm, for example, cattle ranchers,

02:18but at the same time they would benefit

02:21wine and cheese producers and exporters.

02:24This is the portrait of a sector

02:26with two very different feelings

02:29about the same trade agreement.

02:41At 43, Pierre-Marie Delangle is defined as a local producer.

02:46His farm in the center of France employs six people.

02:50He raises chickens, sheep and about 250 cows,

02:53including dairy and meat.

02:55He estimates that the agreement with Mercosur

02:58would force him to reduce prices by up to 30%,

03:01which, he says, would endanger his business.

03:05If we are competed by meat that comes from South America,

03:08of course we will value these animals less,

03:11so we will have less income.

03:13If there is less competition,

03:15there is less activity in Europe,

03:17particularly in France.

03:19So if there is less breeding,

03:21there is a whole economy behind it,

03:23a whole sector that is weakened.

03:25So if there are fewer animals to slaughter,

03:27there are fewer slaughterhouses,

03:29fewer tools to value and transform our animals.

03:32In the end, it is also this economy that is threatened.

03:39There are many other free trade agreements

03:41that have been negotiated or already signed

03:43between Europe and a whole bunch of countries.

03:45The United States, Canada, Morocco,

03:47Chile, New Zealand, there are a lot of them.

03:50What seems absurd is to put agricultural products

03:52in the same treaty,

03:54which seems to serve as a currency

03:56against industrial products.

04:02Most of our land is not workable.

04:04We are not going to grow cereals in these plots.

04:07So in the end, the risk is to see

04:09our breeding activity condemned, quite simply.

04:12We are playing with the food sovereignty of our country

04:15and of the different European countries.

04:17These free trade agreements will favor

04:19large multinational groups

04:21who will take over land

04:23and who will make these small peasants die.

04:25There is nothing coherent in all this.

04:31500 km south, the agreement is contemplated

04:34in a very different way from this vineyard.

04:39Jean-Marie Fappe is the president

04:41of the Independent Winemakers of France.

04:43His property, the winery,

04:45covers 15 hectares and employs 4 people.

04:4730% of its wine production is exported.

04:50For small cellars and open markets,

04:53it is a golden opportunity.

04:56The Mercosur agreement poses difficulties

04:58for other agricultural sectors,

05:00but for the winery sector,

05:02it will bring back customs rights

05:04on the penetration of our wines

05:06on these countries to zero,

05:08which are now around 27%.

05:10So no, the agreement as it is there

05:12for the wine and spirits sector

05:14is a free trade agreement that satisfies us.

05:16Recent history says

05:18it has convinced him of the need

05:20to trust these free trade agreements.

05:23In 2017, the trade agreements signed with Japan

05:26that brought customs rights back to zero,

05:28so null,

05:30made us gain in 2018

05:32more than 15% in value

05:34and about 10% in volume,

05:36while it was already a very mature market.

05:46According to the European Commission,

05:48the agreement would save the companies

05:50of the EU more than 4 billion euros

05:52a year in tariffs.

05:54Most of the tariff concessions

05:56are subject to specific quotas

05:58to protect consumers and producers of the EU,

06:00while the countries of the Mercosur

06:02have committed to eliminating

06:04illegal importation by 2030.

06:07So what is the path that remains to be traveled?

06:09Can the European Union really allow

06:11not to ratify the agreement?

06:13I have come here, to Paris,

06:15to transfer all these questions

06:17to Elvir Favry,

06:19a specialist researcher

06:21in geopolitics of trade.

06:27Given the economic slowdown in China

06:29and the expected increase

06:31of US trade tariffs,

06:33Elvir Favry says that the EU

06:35must look for new markets for its exports

06:37and also to cover

06:39its own strategic shortcomings,

06:41especially with regard to raw materials.

06:45We find in Brazil,

06:47in Argentina in particular,

06:49ores that are very important

06:51for all our green and digital technologies,

06:53to which we have redirected

06:55investment programs

06:57and we are starting

06:59a European industrial strategy.

07:01We are trying to preserve

07:03our access to these critical ores.

07:06And when it comes to public health safeguards,

07:08the current legislation

07:10should be effective enough,

07:12he says.

07:14We must keep in mind

07:16that all products that enter the EU

07:18must respect the sanitary

07:20and phytosanitary standards.

07:22So if there is a pesticide

07:24that is used in Argentina,

07:26in Brazil or elsewhere,

07:28that is not used in the EU,

07:30there must be a threshold of residues

07:32that must be respected

07:34in order to enter the European market,

07:36whether there is a trade agreement or not.

07:41The ball is now in the hands

07:43of the Member States and the Council.

07:45The European Parliament

07:47would also have to give its final green light

07:49for its final adoption.

08:00For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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