Today, ambassadors of EU member states are scheduled to vote on the so-called “protective clauses” concerning the EU-Mercosur agreement. “If the government does not block today’s vote, it will amount to de facto consent to pushing through a harmful agreement “quietly,” before people have time to react,” warns Law and Justice (PiS) MP Krzysztof Ciecióra.
The EU-Mercosur Agreement
On 16 December, the European Parliament adopted amendments that are supposedly intended to strengthen the regulation proposed by the European Commission regarding the so-called protective clause in the trade agreement with Mercosur countries. This mechanism is meant to serve as a safeguard for the European Union in a situation where, after the agreement enters into force, excessive imports of selected agricultural products such as beef or eggs begin to pose a threat to EU producers.
Two days later, on Thursday, 18 December, farmers from various European countries arrived in Brussels to protest against EU agricultural policy and the planned EU-Mercosur agreement. Belgium’s capital was partially blocked by columns of tractors, including representatives of farmers’ unions from Poland. On the same day, during a summit in Brussels, it was announced that the signing of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries would be postponed until January. Meanwhile, today EU ambassadors are to vote on the so-called protective clauses. Law and Justice (PiS) MP Krzysztof Ciecióra noted in a post published on the platform X that the EU’s decision will most likely be made at the beginning of January, and that the agreement could be signed as early as 12 January in Paraguay.
In his view, the “protective clauses” do not solve the problem, because “this is not a shield at all, but a fig leaf.” He also listed a number of important facts that, he says, are not mentioned by the December 13 Coalition government.
“The lack of a hard reciprocity principle (“mirror clauses”) – in practice, Mercosur still does not have to play by the same rules as farmers in the EU (plant protection products, antibiotics, production standards).
The protective mechanism has been set at a high threshold – the final provisions mention, among other things, an 8% price drop threshold for sensitive products before a real response is triggered.
This hits Polish agriculture, but also consumers and food security – because the agreement increases pressure to import cheaper food, often produced under different standards,” he stressed.
He added that “at the same time Prime Minister Tusk is reassuring everyone that ‘the agreement is safe’ – it is not, that is simply not true.”
“And the Minister of Agriculture, Stefan Krajewski? He is recording stupid videos and driving around Podlasie. If the government does not block today’s vote, it will amount to de facto consent to pushing through a harmful agreement ‘quietly,’ before people have time to react,” he concluded.