The EU’s Mercosur Agreement Is a Threat to Our Food-Chain Self-Sufficiency

Farmers protesting in Brussels

“The European Union is giving up its last bastion of self-sufficiency with the Mercosur agreement,” said Minister of Agriculture István Nagy at an event organized by the Oeconomus Economic Research Foundation. 

In his presentation at the Oeconomus Economic Club event, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy sharply criticized the Mercosur agreement.

[richact]The South American economic bloc was formed in 1994 with the participation of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. The European Union has been negotiating a free trade agreement with them for more than twenty years; the parties reached a political agreement in 2019, but the treaty has not yet been ratified.[/richfact]

The minister believes that Europe’s economy has been stagnating for years, prompting the EU to take action, “but we can see that it is responding in the wrong way.”

Instead of boosting the competitiveness of the European economy with an appropriate energy policy, it is entering into a free trade agreement that sacrifices agriculture.

The minister cited the current market turmoil as an example: after the EU imposed tariffs on Chinese electric cars, China responded with retaliatory tariffs on dairy products. As a result, the purchase price of milk fell dramatically.

If another kilogram of product arrives from South American countries, we will have to find someone in Europe who produces one kilogram less,”

he said, adding: “This sector must be considered critical infrastructure.” He revealed that he learned this expression from German Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir.

According to István Nagy, the EU “has given up on steel, given up on energy, given up on everything, and all that remains is its food self-sufficiency,” and now it is preparing to give that up too.

“It is no fun driving a supercar on an empty stomach,” he said, adding that hunger is a powerful force and you always have to make sure you do not get hungry.

The Minister of Agriculture also sharply criticized the EU’s double standards on environmental protection. He asked, “Where are the greens? Where is the ecological fervor?” when it comes to the fuel consumption of ships transporting South American products across oceans or distribution by truck. In his opinion, “what hypocrisy is this,” while European farmers are subject to strict regulations.

In addition to Mercosur, he also called the Ukrainian free trade agreement problematic citing three facts:

• he stated that “one-third of the EU’s total arable land is located in Ukraine,”
• every third kilogram of wheat exported comes from Ukraine,
• and every second bottle of cooking oil worldwide comes from there.

“We are bringing this upon ourselves,” he said, adding that Ukraine has no animal welfare, plant health or traceability rules in place, unlike those that apply to European farmers.

The minister emphasized that we must not go down this dead-end road, because this is not just about farmers’ livelihoods.

We protect all European citizens from food produced under uncontrolled conditions and from pesticide residues,”

he said. He also warned that food from South America or Ukraine will only be cheap until European farmers are “ground down.” He added, “Do we really want food to be a political tool?”

István Nagy stated that Hungary is working together with France, Poland, Austria, and Ireland to prevent the agreement.

We are on the right track, and I sincerely hope that we will succeed, and then the blocking minority can be re-established,”

he said. He also asked questions: “On what authority did Ursula von der Leyen sign this agreement,” since it was not voted on by parliament and is under judicial review.

André Palóc, spokesperson for Hungary’s Ministry for National Economy, stated at the event that farming is not just an economic issue, but a way of life – and it is certain that there are serious interests working against the survival of European agriculture.

Via Index; Featured photo: Facebook/MCC Brussels

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