Minister assures Slovenian farmers protection from the consequences of the EU agreement with Mercosur

Brussels – The safeguards to protect European farmers from possible negative consequences of the trade agreement between the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur are strong enough, said Slovenian Agriculture Minister Mateja Čalušić after an informal meeting of the agriculture ministers of the member states in Brussels. She announced that Slovenian farmers would also be protected.

“Slovenia is an extremely small market, a smaller impact on the economy and agriculture is expected,” Čalušić said regarding the impact of the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, which still needs the support of the member states before it can be signed. According to her, Slovenian experts who monitor trade agreements estimate that the effects of the agreement will be positive for Slovenia.

“We will follow this, be attentive and absolutely protect Slovenian farmers at every moment,” she assured.

Special safeguards will be put in place to protect farmers in the EU from possible consequences of the agreement, which, in the event of negative effects on the European agricultural market, will allow the temporary freezing of reduced tariffs on imports of agricultural products from the South American trade bloc. Among other things, the protective measures envisage systematic and proactive monitoring of imports of such products, on which the European Commission will report to member states and MEPs every six months.

In a statement after the meeting, Čalušić said that these safeguards are strong enough and emphasized the importance of regular reporting by the Commission.

Before the vote of the member states on the agreement, scheduled for Friday, she said that it could be adopted, “since no member state has expressed a very clear negative position on the agreement itself”.

At the same time, she welcomed Tuesday’s letter from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who, in light of the member states’ discussions on the agreement with Mercosur, presented a proposal for a more favorable solution for financing support for European farmers under the EU’s next long-term budget. (7 January)