Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 September 2020
107. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will report on the Mercosur deal and the way in which it will impact farming here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24346/20]
View answerA political agreement was announced in June 2019, marking the end of a twenty-year period of negotiations on the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement. The agreement is currently undergoing a process of legal scrubbing and translation, with the Commission expecting to bring the matter to the EU Trade Council in the final quarter of 2020.
The provisional application of those aspects of the Agreement which the Commission has exclusive competence for (including trade) will require the agreement of the Trade Council (Qualified Majority Voting) and ratification by the European Parliament. The formal ratification process for the wider Agreement will require ratification by individual Member States, because it contains elements which fall under both EU competence and Member State competence.
As the Deputy knows, there is real concern in Ireland about the potential impact of the agreement, arising in particular from the inclusion of a 99,000-tonne tariff rate quota for beef. Throughout the period of negotiation we consistently sought to minimise the impact of any potential deal on the Irish and European beef sector, and we continue to voice our concerns in this respect.
The European Commission engaged the London School of Economics to carry out a “Sustainability Impact Assessment” on the agreement, the draft final report of which was published on 8th July 2020. This EU study is being augmented at national level by a whole-of-Government review announced by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar T.D. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, in collaboration with my Department, commissioned the Implement Consulting Group to carry out this Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment (ESIA) for Ireland. This report is due presently.
The final outcome of both studies will inform Ireland’s approach to the discussions in the coming months, and to the ratification process.
