MEPs including Ciarán Mullooly have planned a legal challenge to Mercosur passing. \ Philip Doyle
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Government is weighing up the text of the proposed EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, to judge whether it deems that the fears it cited around the deal have been settled.
“The Government is carefully assessing the EU-Mercosur package in its entirety, to understand if our concerns with the agreement have been adequately addressed,” a spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs said this week.
The Programme for Government had committed to “work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal”. While the text of the agreement itself has remained largely unchanged since the Government was formed, the European Commission sees the “safeguards” it proposed putting to bed fears on the impact of the deal on EU markets. However, midlands north west MEP Ciarán Mullooly is among those who remain unsatisfied with these safeguards and he has joined a planned legal challenge to the deal’s passing.
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Mullooly stated that he received confirmation that investigations into whether an emergency brake on South American beef is needed would only be triggered if EU prices tumbled 10% year-on-year for five successive calendar years.
“I will pursue our plan for a legal action and seek further clarification on the proposed safety net and insist on getting changes in order to protect Irish beef farmers in the event that the Mercosur-EU trade agreement is ratified,” the MEP said.
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Government is weighing up the text of the proposed EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, to judge whether it deems that the fears it cited around the deal have been settled.
“The Government is carefully assessing the EU-Mercosur package in its entirety, to understand if our concerns with the agreement have been adequately addressed,” a spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs said this week.
The Programme for Government had committed to “work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal”. While the text of the agreement itself has remained largely unchanged since the Government was formed, the European Commission sees the “safeguards” it proposed putting to bed fears on the impact of the deal on EU markets. However, midlands north west MEP Ciarán Mullooly is among those who remain unsatisfied with these safeguards and he has joined a planned legal challenge to the deal’s passing.
Mullooly stated that he received confirmation that investigations into whether an emergency brake on South American beef is needed would only be triggered if EU prices tumbled 10% year-on-year for five successive calendar years.
“I will pursue our plan for a legal action and seek further clarification on the proposed safety net and insist on getting changes in order to protect Irish beef farmers in the event that the Mercosur-EU trade agreement is ratified,” the MEP said.
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