Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2016
626. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the European Commission's plan to reinvigorate the Mercorsor talks; if Ireland has an official position on these; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9982/16]
View answerNegotiations between the EU and Mercosur had been in suspension for a number of years, but political developments in late 2015, particularly in Argentina and Brazil, generated a new momentum from the Mercosur side to make progress.
On May 11th 2016, the EU and Mercosur exchanged offers on access to their respective markets of goods, services and establishment and government procurement. This was the first exchange of offers since 2004. Significantly, and following representations made to the EU Commission by Ireland and other Member States, a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for beef was excluded from the offer. Both sides will now examine the respective offers in more detail. The EU and Mercosur will hold a chief negotiators meeting before the summer break in order to take stock of the negotiation and to prepare a schedule of meetings for the second semester of the year.
Ireland has long been a supporter an open trade agenda. However, it is essential for Ireland, and indeed other Member States, to have full information so as to be able to assess the potential impacts, both positive and negative, from the various elements of any perspective agreement, to enable us to calibrate our position in the negotiations. Ireland, like a number of other Member States has very strong concerns in relation to agriculture to the EU beef sector, in particular.
I believe that the inclusion of a TRQ would have been extremely unhelpful at this early stage of the negotiations and should only be considered as part of the “end game”, given the sensitivity of the issue. Furthermore, the cumulative impact of all the EU beef offers in Trade Agreements, both those completed and in development, will need to be assessed before a full evaluation of an offer to Mercosur, for this sector, can be considered.
Irish exporters are currently subject to trade tariffs, trade barriers and restrictions, when exporting to Mercosur countries. The EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement should reduce the cost of goods exported to the region which will make imports from Ireland more attractive and potentially increase demand for Irish goods. As in all the EU’s modern Trade Agreements, the agreement will seek to make the trading environment transparent and more predictable, with common rules and access to public procurement markets.
