Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food
Impact of Trade Deals on Agriculture: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
2:00 am
Ms Sinéad McPhillips:
Yes, that would be the trade ministers, so in our case the Tánaiste. For the qualified majority vote, a blocking minority would be required to prevent adoption of the agreement by the Council of trade ministers. That requires at least four member states representing more than 35% of the EU population either voting against or abstaining on the proposal.