NAK: New free trade deals could threaten EU agriculture and consumers

According to their position, Brussels would be acting irresponsibly if it reached an agreement with Australia and Morocco, because both countries have looser rules on production than the EU, and opening up the market would threaten the very existence of European farmers. The outlook is still uncertain due to rising production costs and declining profitability, and the previous agreement, Mercosur, which was “forced through EU decision-making processes”, also allows South American countries to export to the EU. This is not just an economic issue, as European food security, the future of rural communities and the strategic importance of the agricultural sector are at stake, and ill-considered agreements could cause irreversible damage – they wrote. They added that the deals to be concluded do not meet the requirements of transparency, decision-makers bypass the European Parliament and do not share basic information with the public. According to NAK, this may also indicate that the interests of European producers are being pushed into the background in preparation for unbalanced agreements. Agriculture cannot be a subject of negotiation, the EU market cannot be opened without protecting sensitive products, only an agreement based on identical standards can be accepted – the statement reads.

MTI