Nicosia, Cyprus. Akel MEP Giorgos Georgiou said the EU–Mercosur trade agreement remains a threat to farmers, arguing that recently approved safeguards in the European Parliament do not provide sufficient protection for Cyprus and the wider EU.
Parliament safeguards and provisional application
Speaking on Alpha TV, Georgiou said the European Parliament on Tuesday approved limited additional measures to mitigate the impact of trade liberalisation with Mercosur countries, after European Council president Antonio Costa moved to push for provisional implementation of the agreement.
Georgiou said that following Costa’s announcement of an intention to temporarily apply the agreement, lawmakers were compelled to return and vote again on certain safeguards. He added that efforts to strengthen protections were unsuccessful.
Call for European Court of Justice review
Georgiou said a proposal to refer the agreement to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on its compatibility with EU treaties had not been respected by the European Council.
He said the European Parliament voted to send the agreement to the court so it could determine whether it is compatible with the treaties, and said this was ignored.
Georgiou said the court process would take between 18 and 24 months and warned the agreement could be implemented before legal clarity is provided.
Concerns for traditional products and competition
Georgiou said protections had not been secured for basic traditional products and described Mercosur as hanging “like a sword of Damocles over the heads of farmers”.
He reiterated concerns that Cypriot producers would face unfair competition from mass-produced imports made under lower environmental and food safety standards. He said such products are often produced using pesticides banned in the EU and with access to land and water that local farmers do not have.
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