Today is a historic day for Irish agriculture as the EU Parliament sends the Mercosur Trade deal to the EU Court of Justice for a determination as to whether parts of the deal are in breach of existing treaties. Euractiv reports “At the heart of the dispute lies a mechanism in the deal that would enable Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to challenge EU legislation threatening the market access granted under the agreement. Critics warn that this could include future sustainability rules.”
This is just the first (but very welcome!) round in the battle to ensure high food standards and the viability of our food production sector across Europe. We owe huge thanks to our MEPs who supported farmers across Europe today and in particular, to Ciaran Muloolly who has been at the forefront of the Irish team in Brussels.
The question then on everyone’s minds is: Which of our MEPs supported the motion to refer the deal to the CJEU? Here’s the list:
You can check out the list on this and other votes here: https://howtheyvote.eu/votes/183884