The Government needs to take a stronger stance against Mercosur and work harder to build alliances with other countries to block the trade deal, Sinn Féin has said.
Speaking at a public meeting on Mercosur in Co Limerick on Monday, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on agriculture, Martin Kenny, said the Government is “playing two sides” when it comes to Mercosur.
“There is an element of Government that wants to keep in tight with the countries in Europe that are for [the trade deal],” he said.
At the Sinn Féin organised meeting, Kenny also stated that the Government needs to actively work with other member states to halt the deal.
“The biggest problem I find with the Government at present isn’t what they’re saying. They’re saying the right thing, but are they actually putting the pressure on to the level that they need to?
“That means that they actively need to be shoring up and building an alliance with other countries in Europe to come together to block the deal,” he said.
The deal could be blocked by upcoming votes at the EU’s Council of Ministers if four countries representing 35% or more of the EU’s population vote against it.
Safeguards
On the safeguards included in the deal, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture said they are “useless” and “good for nothing”.
“First of all, they’re only there for five years and secondly, the safeguards are only something that happens in retrospect.
“When something goes up in smoke and the whole thing is a mess, then the safeguards kick in and they have to go back, investigate and look into it. That’s no good to us. We need to stop this before it goes any further,” Kenny added.
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