Irish farmers occupied Monday afternoon the offices of the European Commission in Dublin, over fears of a multibillion-Euro threat to the livestock industry from Mercosur.
Peru and the European Union will be signing the final documents for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in mid March, said Peruvian Trade and Tourism Minister Eduardo Ferreyros in Lima.
European farmers’ organizations claimed on Thursday that current trade talks between the EU and Mercosur could lead to a “total collapse” of the EU beef sector.
Mercosur negotiations and Ireland’s share of the EU agriculture spending are seen as the main challenging demands for the new Agriculture minister of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition government in Dublin.
Leaders of Ireland’s three main parties pledged on Monday to oppose any trade deal with Mercosur countries which could damage Irish exports if EU standards of production are not adhered to, reports the Irish Times.
Members from the European Parliament representing rural constituencies have come out strongly against a possible trade deal between Europe and Mercosur arguing that an influx of meat imports could have a devastating impact on the EU beef industry.
Having pushed through a strong safeguard clause to protect European industry and received guarantees from Seoul that the new Korean legislation on car CO2 emission limits would not be detrimental to European car makers, the Parliament on gave its consent to the most ambitious trade agreement the EU has ever negotiated.
France warned Tuesday that it is following closely European Union/Mercosur trade talks to ensure that farmers from both blocks are strictly subjected to the same rules.
United States, China and the European Union announced they would recognize south Sudan as the world’s newest nation. President Barack Obama went further and rewarded north Sudan for its cooperation by taking it off a terrorism blacklist.
Adjusting to the “new reality,” was top of the agenda at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. Some 2,500 business leaders, politicians and social activists are looking forward, while trying to anticipate unexpected shocks, it was reported.