Written answers

Tuesday, 2 November 2021

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Trade Agreements

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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61. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the interactions he has had with his EU counterparts regarding the EU-Mercosur trade agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52449/21]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the EU reached political agreement in their trade negotiations with the Mercosur region in June 2019. The resultant EU-Mercosur Agreement is the EU’s largest trade deal to date and covers a population of over 770 million. The Agreement is designed to cement the close political and economic relations between the EU and Mercosur countries and represents a clear commitment from both regions to rules-based international trade.

In 2020, Ireland exported over €400 million worth of goods to Mercosur and, in 2019, the most recent year for which figures on services exports are available, some €700 million worth of services exports to Mercosur. An independent impact assessment commissioned by my Department and published in July this year concluded that Irish exports to the Mercosur market are expected to be 17% higher in 2035, with particular increases forecast in pharmaceuticals, computer and electronic products, electrical equipment and machinery, processed foods and beverages under the terms of the Agreement. Overall, the impact assessment projects that Ireland’s global exports will increase by 0.24% - or €1.1 billion - in 2035 under the Agreement, supporting the attendant jobs here in Ireland in the various sectors and individual companies that should benefit from the Agreement's improved market access terms.

However, we also have some well-known concerns regarding climate change and the environmental impact of the extensive forest fires we have seen in the Amazon Region. These concerns have been raised at all political levels, through my engagement with the Commission and Trade Minister colleagues in Council and bilaterally. Specifically, at a meeting of the EU’s Trade Council in Berlin in September 2020, I took the opportunity to remind both the Commission, and my counterparts, that such enforceable guarantees which strengthen environmental protections, particularly with regard to the Amazon rainforest and climate action, are a priority for this Government in terms of our assessment of the benefits of the Agreement when it is formally presented for decision. Furthermore, as recently as June this year, I again wrote to the EU's Trade Commissioner to restate our position here, as well as address other Trade Policy matters.

On the basis of these concerns by Ireland and other EU Member States the EU's Trade Commissioner is engaged with the Mercosur countries on negotiating additional enforceable commitments on climate and deforestation.

Finally, officials from my Department and across Government have continued to articulate the Government’s clear position regarding the Agreement at the highest level in the EU.

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