Mercosur/nitrates doesn’t have the same cachet as Frost/Nixon, but there are some similarities. The latter was a movie that recounted the slow-moving drama of the British chat-show host seeking gravitas by exposing the wily ex-president. And the former, as we all know, are two of the long-running sagas in Irish farming.
Mercosur has been rumbling along since before the millennium, but could come to a conclusion next month. Because if the European Commission and the German government, the chief cheerleaders for a trade deal with the South American grouping, can’t get a deal done next month, then they surely never will.
Beef prices are at record levels, so cattle farmers have never been as vulnerable to a deal being done to bring much more beef into Europe at low tariff rates.
And Europe has never been as friendless as it is now – a hostile Russia to the east, a belligerent and unsympathetic US administration to the west. China and India have lapsed back into autocracy, leaving only Brazil of the aforementioned countries with a progressive and pro-Europe government.
It’s against that backdrop that the chances of stopping full implementation of the Mercosur trade deal must be assessed.
This paper’s investigation into the antibiotic trade, and the absence of anything approaching European standards of traceability might seem like a strong card, but Brussels will have to be shamed into acknowledging these issues.
The Irish Government is trying to manage the escalation of resistance to Mercosur amongst the opposition.
We haven’t seen Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, Independent Ireland and Aontú so aligned since the farrago around Verona Murphy’s appointment as ceann comhairle. In addition, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rural backbenchers and MEPs sound more in tune with the opposition than the government their parties lead.
The added complication is that the draft sixth nitrates action programme (NAP) is up for assessment in a fortnight. Irish farming has been united in support of a derogation renewal alongside that NAP.
However, there is now an undercurrent that success in that endeavour better be followed by a second win on Mercosur. There are 7,000 derogation farmers, and over 100,000 livestock farmers.
It’s a bit like a Cork or Tipperary GAA club’s intermediate footballers winning the county final a week before the same group of lads play in the senior hurling final. There won’t be any celebrating until the double is achieved.
And should the derogation be obtained, but Mercosur be fully ratified, the Government will be wide open to the accusation that they prioritised one issue over the other. Two defeats would be a disaster.
Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Martin Heydon are walking a narrow pathway over the next few weeks. The slow-moving drama is reaching its crescendo, and it could be dramatic and seismic.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin. \ Claire Nash
Mercosur/nitrates doesn’t have the same cachet as Frost/Nixon, but there are some similarities. The latter was a movie that recounted the slow-moving drama of the British chat-show host seeking gravitas by exposing the wily ex-president. And the former, as we all know, are two of the long-running sagas in Irish farming.
Mercosur has been rumbling along since before the millennium, but could come to a conclusion next month. Because if the European Commission and the German government, the chief cheerleaders for a trade deal with the South American grouping, can’t get a deal done next month, then they surely never will.
Beef prices are at record levels, so cattle farmers have never been as vulnerable to a deal being done to bring much more beef into Europe at low tariff rates.
And Europe has never been as friendless as it is now – a hostile Russia to the east, a belligerent and unsympathetic US administration to the west. China and India have lapsed back into autocracy, leaving only Brazil of the aforementioned countries with a progressive and pro-Europe government.
It’s against that backdrop that the chances of stopping full implementation of the Mercosur trade deal must be assessed.
This paper’s investigation into the antibiotic trade, and the absence of anything approaching European standards of traceability might seem like a strong card, but Brussels will have to be shamed into acknowledging these issues.
The Irish Government is trying to manage the escalation of resistance to Mercosur amongst the opposition.
We haven’t seen Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, Independent Ireland and Aontú so aligned since the farrago around Verona Murphy’s appointment as ceann comhairle. In addition, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rural backbenchers and MEPs sound more in tune with the opposition than the government their parties lead.
The added complication is that the draft sixth nitrates action programme (NAP) is up for assessment in a fortnight. Irish farming has been united in support of a derogation renewal alongside that NAP.
However, there is now an undercurrent that success in that endeavour better be followed by a second win on Mercosur. There are 7,000 derogation farmers, and over 100,000 livestock farmers.
It’s a bit like a Cork or Tipperary GAA club’s intermediate footballers winning the county final a week before the same group of lads play in the senior hurling final. There won’t be any celebrating until the double is achieved.
And should the derogation be obtained, but Mercosur be fully ratified, the Government will be wide open to the accusation that they prioritised one issue over the other. Two defeats would be a disaster.
Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Martin Heydon are walking a narrow pathway over the next few weeks. The slow-moving drama is reaching its crescendo, and it could be dramatic and seismic.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin. \ Claire Nash
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