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Following several meetings in Budapest and Vienna, the French Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Annie Genevard; the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, István Nagy; the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjarto; and the Austrian Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Climate Protection, Environment, Regions and Water Management, Norbert Totschnig, reiterated their serious concern about the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries, concluded in Montevideo on December 6, 2024.
“A significant amount of imported products produced to lower standards could lead to the exclusion of European agricultural products, significantly reducing purchase prices and, consequently, the profitability of agricultural production.” “This would also compromise production, development, and investment, jeopardizing European food security and sovereignty,” Minister István Nagy stressed.
According to the ministers, in its current version, the agreement is unbalanced, to the detriment of European agricultural interests, since it does not contain a specific safeguard clause for sensitive European agricultural products.
In its current version, the entry into force of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur would damage EU agricultural production, an essential factor of European sovereignty, but also "the soul of our rural territories", as Minister Peter Szijjarto recalled.
Minister Totschnig emphasized the importance of agriculture for food sovereignty and economic growth in the European Union. These two aspects can only be guaranteed by competitive agricultural production in our regions, he added.
The current geopolitical uncertainty in no way calls these conclusions into question; “an agreement that was bad remains bad,” reminded Minister Annie Genevard.
June 5, 2025/ Ministry of Agriculture/ France.
https://agriculture.gouv.fr/
