Irland bremser forhandlingerne om en handelsåbning til Mercosur landene Argentina, Brasilien, Paraguay og Uruguay fremgår det af konklusionerne fra EU landbrugsministrenes forhandlinger med de sydamerikanske lande.
The Irish request was largely supported by member states recalling the risks of a further opening of the European market to agricultural products from Mercosur. This could have a negative impact on several agricultural sectors including the beef sector.
An initial exchange of views on relaunching negotiations with Mercosur took place at the Agriculture Council in May 2010 and ministers were also briefed on this issue at the last meeting of the Agriculture Council.
Since then, as four negotiating rounds had already taken place with the last one organised in Brussels last month, Ireland, supported by several delegations further requested the Commission to provide an outline of its views on the future prospects for these negotiations.
They believe that offers should not be made until member states have had sufficient time to fully evaluate the content of the impact assessments currently being prepared within the Commission and after full debate in Council.
The Commission decided on 4 May 2010 to relaunch negotiations with Mercosur. These free trade agreement negotiations began in 1995 and were suspended without agreement in October 2004.
A successful EU-Mercosur agreement would need to address all aspects of the negotiations and in particular the core areas of industrial goods, services and agriculture.
The Commission confirmed that the impact assessment on these negotiations should be discussed soon in an expert working group and that the member states will be kept informed of any offer made to Mercosur on agricultural issues.
