Mr. Maroš Šefovi:

I thank the Co-Chairs very much. I know that we are running out of time so I will be very brief. First and foremost, on the question of the trade deal with the US, as we discussed earlier, it is our most important trading partner and a very important ally in the field of security. On issues like Gaza and the EU, all members around the table have clearly presented a very strong view. I will share their very strong impression with my colleagues in the Commission. I reassure them that from the first moment we have been pushing very strongly for the provision of humanitarian assistance. We have been supplying aid. We have been working on air bridges and on making sure the trucks are at the gates but we cannot open the gates if Israel is not willing to do that. We have been raising this relentlessly with the Israeli authorities. We do it all the time. That is what members need to know. Not everything is in the newspapers or on the TV, but it does not mean that it is not happening. Members know very well that when it comes to the Common Security and Foreign Policy, it is a shared competence with the member states and therefore what the Commission can do is use to the full the competences we have in the field of humanitarian aid and trade policies. We really use them to the fullest.

I would be very happy to provide the committee with more detailed written answers on the level of inspections vis-à-vis Mercosur, as well as to the questions I did not have a chance to answer. I was puzzled by the GMO question so we will look into it and provide the committee with additional information.

On China, we raise this at every single meeting I have with Minister Wang Wentao. We will continue to do so. We are considering the legal remedies but they take time to trigger so I would prefer to find solutions to open the market immediately. Alternative solutions are all the FTAs we have been discussing - with Indonesia, the UAE, and Mexico - but I am sure Irish agrifood businesses will do as well as they did in Canada where the trade was marked by a dramatic increase in Irish exports because Ireland is so strong in agrifood standards, the quality of the product and also in marketing.

In concluding, I thank the committee for the invitation and for having me. I also clearly confirm that, as we have discussed Brexit in the past, we can discuss all these topics. If the committee feels it needs additional information directly from me, we will make sure we will provide it with all the details necessary for its decision-making. I thank the committee very much.