Hungary should say no to the destructive EU-Mercosur agreement! – urge civil and agricultural organizations

After more than two and a half decades of negotiations, interrupted and restarted several times, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, plans to sign the EU-Mercosur agreement in Brazil on 20 December 2025. Before that, the approval of the European Council, representing the ministers of the member states, and the European Parliament is also needed. The issue of the agreement is expected to be on the agenda of the next EU Council meeting, and the European Parliament is expected to vote on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement afterwards.

According to civil society and agricultural organisations, the “free trade” agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur bloc endangers European agriculture, food security, the natural assets of our planet and its climate. Therefore, at the initiative of the Hungarian Bioculture Association, the Hungarian Nature Conservation Association, the Hungarian Climate Protection Association and the National Hungarian Beekeeping Association, 57 Hungarian civil society and agricultural organisations have addressed an open letter to the government and the members of the European Parliament, asking them to say no to the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. In addition to the organisations that signed the open letter, the agreement is also strongly opposed by the National Chamber of Agriculture and the MAGOSZ.

According to analyses, the EU-Mercosur trade agreement would, among other things, significantly increase the export of cheap, less regulated agricultural products to Europe. This would adversely affect European farmers and would also increase greenhouse gas emissions by 34%.[2] Furthermore, the entry of “plant protection products” banned in Europe but permitted in South American countries into the continent through food would undermine European agriculture and put people’s health at risk.

The draft agreement, finalized last year, also contains significant setbacks compared to the previous, much-criticized text, especially from an environmental and sustainability perspective. The newly introduced “balancing mechanism” in particular poses a serious threat to European environmental and food safety measures, as it gives South American states the opportunity to weaken European standards, stressed Fidrich Róbert, program manager of the Hungarian Association of Nature Conservators.

The safeguard clause proposed by the European Commission to reassure farmers would not provide a substantive solution either, it is no coincidence that European farmers’ organizations consider the safeguard clause insufficient and continue to firmly reject the EU-Mercosur agreement, and demonstrated against it a few days ago. [

In order to avoid the veto of individual member states, the Commission, contrary to the original authorization received from the Council, has divided the EU-Mercosur agreement into two parts – an interim trade agreement and the EU-Mercosur partnership agreement – ​​and is thus trying to get the Council and Parliament to approve the pact as soon as possible. This solution and many other points of the EU-Mercosur agreement are not only anti-democratic, but also contrary to EU law, according to experts.

In light of the above, we also ask that Hungary and our MEPs say no to the ratification of the EU-Mercosur agreement(s). Let us not let the EU sacrifice European agriculture, food security, the natural values ​​of our planet and our climate for the benefit of giant companies in the automotive and chemical industries! – added Ákos Éger, Executive President of the Hungarian Association of Nature Conservators.