The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tuskannounced this Tuesday that Poland will not accept free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) in its current form, a position that he says is shared by other European partners.
In a press conference after the Council of Ministers held today in Warsaw, Tusk explained that “the main concern of the Polish Government lies in the negative impact that the agreement could have on the country’s agricultural sector”, an opinion that he already advanced a few years ago. days.
Tusk explained that, after hearing negative opinions about the agreement from some ministers, such as the Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierskiand that of Energy, Krzysztof Paszykreaffirmed its “opposition to the results of the negotiations with Mercosur (…) in particular to the increase in customs quotas for poultry meat”, of which Poland is the largest producer in the EU.
In recent days, farmers’ associations, agricultural organizations such as the National Council of Agricultural Chambers and the PSL party, a partner in the government coalition, have expressed their rejection of an agreement that has led to several pickets of Polish farmers to block the border with Ukraine.
The Vice Minister of Agriculture, Stefan Krajewskiassured that the agreement poses “many threats to European agriculture” due to the difference in production standards and argued that, “on the one hand, the standards and requirements for European farmers, including Polish ones, are increasingly higher.” , which generates additional expenses, and, on the other hand, products that do not have to meet these European standards enter through the back door.”
The Polish Ministry of Agriculture recently issued a statement expressing reservations about the agreement and noting that, while it may bring benefits to the industrial sector and shipping, it would harm “most segments of agri-food production.” especially poultry and beef, sugar and ethanol.
For his part, the deputy prime minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamyszstated that he is working to “build a minority that blocks the implementation of the agreement” and emphasized that, from his point of view, it does not guarantee “the safety or quality of food” and that “Poland will seek alliances with other countries with positions similar, such as France, Ireland and Belgium.
On the other hand, the French farmers On Tuesday they completed their second week of proteststhe same day that the National Assembly will debate and vote during the afternoon trade agreement between the EU and Mercosurlargely rejected by the French political class.
Among the numerous mobilizations this Tuesday, the dozens of tractors deployed to Strasbourg (northeast) to protest against the European Parliamentbody involved in the approval process of the pact between the EU and the countries of the Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay y Paraguay).
Summoned by the agricultural union Rural Coordinationthe convoy was detained by the French gendarmerie in the vicinity of the neighborhood that houses the European Chamber.
Other demonstrations, most of them smaller in scope than the agricultural mobilizations organized in January and February of this year, took place in Lille (north) the Perpignan (south), where the processions also had tractors.
In this last city, close to the Spanish border, the call came from the union Young Farmers (JA) and the Departmental Federation of Agricultural Operators’ Unions (FDSEA) of the Pyrenees-Orientales.
Precisely because of its proximity to Spainone of the countries that exports the most agricultural products to France, Perpignan It is a frequent scene of discontent in the French countryside, which has revitalized the protests to pressure the French Government and prevent the approval of the pact between the UE and the Mercosur.
Currently, negotiations between the EU and Mercosur continue and the European Commission maintains that the agreement will bring benefits for the EU as a whole.
(With information from EFE)
