Mr. Maroš Šefovi:

In response to the Deputy's question about Mercosur safeguards, I note that he is a very proud milk producer. I will set out the checks and safeguards. We took with all seriousness the statement of the Irish Government from the beginning of the year that it cannot support Mercosur in its current form. We are working very closely with the Irish Government and other countries that have doubts about this agreement to see how we can address these fears and concerns.

I will start with legal safeguards. What we put on the table is an unprecedented step. There is a so-called safeguard chapter in the agreement. We are proposing the strongest legislative mechanism in the EU, which is regulation, regarding how these safeguards will be properly implemented. In a nutshell, it means that trade with Mercosur and imports will be under constant monitoring. A report will be issued every six months telling national parliaments, member states and stakeholders how trade is evolving. If there is market disturbance in one country and the disturbance is described two factors - a 10% increase in imports or a 10% drop in prices - within five days, we must propose further action and within 21 days, which I think members will agree is super fast, we must adopt if needed safeguarding measures. Once the safeguards are in place, they will be in place for four years. This is a very strong legal guarantee about what would happen if there is a disturbance concerning an increase in imports or a decrease in prices.

Regarding the level playing field, we made it clear to our Mercosur partners that we will accept no compromises on food standards. The checks on the side in this country by European veterinarians will be upscaled and more resources will be dedicated to these controls. There are very strong elements in the agreement concerning animal welfare. We are finalising the stocktaking exercise. Someone from a farming community knows what MRL is. We want to make sure that if certain pesticides are banned in Europe, they will also be banned in the countries from which we are importing agrifood products. Under no circumstances will we import hormone-treated beef. As one can imagine, this was one of the difficult topics we discussed with our US partners. We proposed €6.4 billion in a so-called unity safety net in the unlikely case that something would go wrong. It is not insurance. It is ready insurance if something does not work out.

I very much appreciate the Deputy's remark that Europe is an agrifood exports superpower. Nobody exports more agrifood than the EU. He is very proud to represent the Irish people. Ireland has one of the strongest agrifood sectors on the planet. Its quality is uncontested so Ireland should not worry about competition. Its meat, poultry and milk are so established on the European and global market. When I travel around the world and go into supermarkets, I see them everywhere. If we want to remain an agrifood superpower, we have to have an agreement where we can open the doors for Ireland and where it will not pay 30%, 40% or 55% tariff duties in the case of Mercosur because it will limit its opportunities. We can lower tariffs for Irish whiskey and Bailey's from 150% in Indonesia to 5%. In the case of India, the figure is also 140% or 150%. The agreement will increase opportunities for Ireland. On top of it, Ireland will have protected its general indication that nobody can present a product as Irish whiskey or Baileys so it can sell these as premium products. We have super confidence in the quality of Ireland's products for European consumers and those elsewhere.

I know other countries have been extremely worried about CETA. Between 2016 and 2024, bilateral trade between Canada and Ireland increased by 267% from €1.3 billion to €5.11 billion. Exports from Ireland to Canada increased by 353% so it shows that Ireland is very strong in the agrifood sector, machinery and services. Regarding the very sensitive segment of beef and poultry, Irish exports went up and our sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, measures clearly withstood the test because we are not taking any hormone-treated beef from Canada and any kind of products that do not fulfil 100% our SPS regime. We have been very clear to the US that we are not willing do to that for it either despite the high cost.

I understand there was a lot of accumulated negative energy and mistrust because these negotiations were taking a long time. There were ups and downs and there was a lot of disappointment from the Irish side. Ireland had legitimate worries that it would lead to disaster, but I believe we learned from that exercise. We know that we should not put an agreement on the table that would be bad for Ireland. An agreement with minimalistic quotas, a strong legal guarantee and a strong standards guarantee would make a strong case for Ireland to reflect on.