Mercosur: MEPs endorse rules to protect EU agriculture 

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• Draft bill includes safeguards to protect sensitive agricultural sectors 
• MEPs want stricter thresholds to trigger safeguards and shorter investigation timelines 
• The Commission should closely monitor the market and report every three months 

The International Trade Committee adopted its position on safeguard mechanisms for agricultural imports linked to the trade agreement with Mercosur countries.

The draft regulation, adopted with 27 votes in favour, 8 against and 7 abstentions, sets out how the EU can temporarily suspend tariff preferences on agricultural imports from Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) if these imports harm EU producers.

According to MEPs, the Commission should launch an investigation into the need for protection measures when imports of sensitive agricultural products (such as poultry or beef) increase by 5% on a three year average (compared to 10% per year in the original Commission proposal). They also want to reduce the duration of these investigations (from six to three months generally, and from four to two months in case of sensitive products) to introduce safeguards quicker. The committee also adopted an amendment saying that safeguards could take the form of a reciprocity obligation for Mercosur countries to apply EU production standards.

Gabriel Mato (EPP, ES), standing rapporteur for Mercosur, said: “I welcome the strong commitment shown by political groups in supporting a solid and balanced compromise. These safeguards significantly improve the way the regulation will operate, ensuring stronger protection for our farmers and a more reliable framework for implementation. The compromises also reflect the key priorities raised by our colleagues in the Agriculture Committee, which was essential for building a broad confidence across the House. I will do everything necessary to defend these improvements in the negotiations to come, as they are not only effective, but also fair and indispensable for achieving a credible outcome.”

Bernd Lange (S&D, DE), Chair of the International Trade Committee, said: “We are listening to our farmers. Today we have shown the EU’s agricultural sector that if producers are negatively impacted by the EU-Mercosur agreement, we will protect them. While the trade agreement itself already contains very carefully calibrated quotas for sensitive products, our agreement today ensures even more rigorous monitoring by the Commission and lowers the threshold for the start of an investigation. Today’s agreement should pave the way for the trade agreement to be signed and eventually ratified in the European Parliament.”

Next steps

Parliament’s plenary will adopt its negotiating mandate during the 15-18 December plenary session, after which interinstitutional negotiations with EU governments on the final shape of the legislation can start.

Background

The bilateral safeguard clauses are part of both the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and the EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement. Those two agreements still need to be approved by the European Parliament.

The EU is Mercosur’s second-largest trading partner in goods, with exports of €57 billion in 2024. The EU accounts for a quarter of total Mercosur trade in services, with EU exports to the region amounting to €29 billion in 2023.