Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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163. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an update on reported recent talks between the EU and the Mercosur group on a trade deal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8380/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The EU-Mercosur Agreement is designed to cement the close political and economic relations between the EU and Mercosur countries and represents a commitment to rules-based international trade. Since formal negotiations concluded in 2019, the global trade policy landscape has changed considerably. The rise in trade nationalism, the economic impacts of COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and the accompanying impacts on global supply chains have demonstrated the importance of diversifying our import and export markets by securing robust and comprehensive trade deals with global partners. The Mercosur Agreement, if ratified, will support that objective.

Ireland and other EU Member States have raised concerns regarding the strength of the trade and sustainability commitments in the Agreement. As a response to those concerns, the European Commission commenced a process with the Mercosur region on a draft interpretative legal instrument addressing sustainability commitments. This interpretative text will have the same legal status as the existing text within the Agreement itself.

Commission negotiators are currently engaging with their Mercosur counterparts on the text of the new instrument. I wish to assure the Deputy that my officials and I continue to closely monitor developments regarding the instrument, and discuss it at EU level at both the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) with other EU Ministers, as well at meetings of officials in the Trade Policy Committee. It is in our collective interests that commitments relating to the environment, biodiversity and sustainability remain central to the overall trade agreement reached with Mercosur.