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Fleury, who previously chaired the French beef farmers’ union FNB, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the risk of a hard Brexit became apparent to him as soon as European farming organisations began to discuss the issue after the UK referendum last year.
“If we did not listen to our Irish friends, we would soon have a problem in France because what Irish farmers would no longer be able to ship to the UK would end up on the continent,” he said.
Today, the EU is 102% self-sufficient in beef. After the UK leaves, this will jump to 116%
While the volumes of beef traded with the UK have been widely documented, with 270,000t of Irish beef shipped to Britain every year, Fleury said the Brexit challenge for European beef farmers as a whole becomes more evident when considering the EU’s beef trade balance with and without the UK. “Today, the EU is 102% self-sufficient in beef. After the UK leaves, this will jump to 116%,” he said. “This means playing in a different league altogether.”
Transition period must be part of exit talks
Fleury is European beef farmers’ main channel of communication with EU leaders, and he says his priority in discussions with the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is to obtain an orderly transition period. “Brexit is for March 2019, but a free trade agreement would take much longer,” he said, referring to the 17 years it took to conclude the recent EU-Canada trade deal. “We will not avoid a transitional period – it must be part of the exit agreement with the UK,” he added. “If we don’t deal with this issue properly, we are running the risk of a major European beef crisis.”
While Ireland wishes to see existing trade arrangements unchanged during such a transition, Fleury said this would be hard to get. “I cannot see much flexibility towards the UK among member states,” he said. However, he added that his Irish visit would give him more arguments to convince the Commission and the French government of the need for a soft Brexit.
New French government
Fleury was hosted by the IFA and met its president Joe Healy and livestock representatives, as well as meat processors and Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Andrew Doyle. His message to the Irish Government was to share its concerns with other European countries and refrain from entering bilateral negotiations with the UK.
Fleury’s visit is timely as he said he would also report Irish concerns to the new French Agriculture Minister Jacques Mézard, who was appointed after the election of President Emmanuel Macron last month.
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