European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christophe Hansen has warned that the European Union cannot be a scapegoat for geopolitical tensions.

“A lot of geopolitical [issues] impact on the agriculture sector.

“And I think we should remind ourselves of the Boeing Airbus dispute in 2019 where the US had tariffs on agri goods – dairy and whiskey from Ireland, French wine, Spanish olives etc,” he said, adding that the EU needs to be better prepared.

“What is now going to happen with China? Are they really slapping import tariffs on our dairy products?

“What is the US administration thinking?

“We need a certain safety net in place to be prepared so we are not the scapegoat of geopolitical tensions so they can’t blackmail us and we can be consistent in the toolbox,” he said.

Commenting on the EU audit which found problems with South American beef imports last year in the context of the Mercosur deal, he said that beef from the trading bloc is already on the EU market.

Level playing field

However, he said Brussels needs to address the fears of farmers and the different production methods used [by countries exporting to the EU], he said.

He believes there needs to be a more level playing field and that this means building on the very strong standards in the EU.

“We have strongest standards globally on animal welfare and I think we need to take this into account when it comes to imports maybe coming from Ukraine and poultry, that we go to next level and align standards,” he said.