PiS MEPs against the clause in the agreement with Mercosur countries. “There is no real protection”
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PiS MEPs spoke on the Mercosur agreement. There are concerns about the effectiveness of the defense mechanism
According to PiS, the clause does not fulfill its basic function. Waldemar Buda, an MEP from this party, argued that it was already now we can see the first effects of the upcoming changes. — We are already hearing today (…) that imports from Mercosur countries are increasing, even though the agreement is not formally in force. We are already hearing that Brazilian and Argentine companies are preparing for this, he said in Strasbourg. In his opinion, Combined with other problems facing European agriculture, this paints a “really bad” outlook for the industry in the EU.
PiS MEPs also claim that the clause does not introduce, as they put it, “a tough, legally binding and effectively monitored equalization of production, environmental and sanitary standards” between the EU and South American countries. In their opinion, this means that European producers will compete with goods manufactured according to different, often less stringent rules.
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PiS: EU bureaucracy instead of automatism
Another objection is no possibility of automatic triggering of the clause in the event of damage to the market. As PiS points out, amendments were submitted on this matter, but they were not adopted. Additionally, the decision to use the mechanism is to be made by the European Commission, which, according to MEPs, means excessive bureaucracy and delays.
The party statement emphasized that EU institutions will only be obliged to conduct an investigation and not to react immediately. This is intended to make the protection of producers late and insufficient. According to the PiS delegation, the clause is “flawed in its very nature” and is purely reactive.
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An expert from the European Parliament on the main problems of the clause
As RMF FM describes, the biggest problem with these provisions is lack of the principle of reciprocity, i.e. the so-called mirror clauses sought by Warsaw, Paris and Polish MEPs. The idea is that Mercosur countries will be obliged to comply with EU production standards, for example regarding permissible levels of pesticides and animal protection.
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As the European Parliament expert explained in an interview with RMF FM, introducing such reciprocity would be possible, but would require reopening and renegotiating the agreement with Mercosur. However, neither side wanted to agree to this. This is due to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which do not allow goods to be differentiated depending on how they are produced.
