Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the Mercosur trade deal [44168/22]

Leo 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 Agreement will 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 2021, Ireland exported nearly €0.5 billion worth of goods to the Mercosur region. In 2020 – the most recent year for which figures are available – Ireland exported approximately €1 billion worth of services to Mercosur. Further expansion into the Mercosur markets is expected as a result of the Agreement reached. The independent impact assessment commissioned by my Department, and published in 2021, concluded that Irish exports to the Mercosur market are expected to be 17% higher in 2035 under the terms of the Agreement.

However, we also have some well-known concerns regarding climate change and the environmental impact of the extensive forest fire we have seen in the Amazon. I have raised these concerns at all political levels, including through my engagement with the Commission and with Trade Minister colleagues in Council.

It is on the basis of these concerns, raised by Ireland and other Member States, that the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) are engaged with the Mercosur countries on negotiating further enforceable commitments on climate and deforestation. Enforceable commitments on matters relating to trade and sustainable development, including environmental and deforestation protections, must be added to the Agreement and we support the work of the Commission and particularly Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis in negotiating additional text.

When the final text is presented to Member States, including the additional commitment sought from Mercosur, our position will depend on our assessment of these additional climate and environmental enforcement provisions, as well as the findings of the Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment, which was commissioned in line with the Government’s stated commitments as part of the formation of Government in 2020 and published in July 2021.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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63. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. [44169/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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As I have previously outlined, ratifying CETA is Government policy and an objective of mine as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Ireland has benefitted immensely from our export-oriented enterprises trading across the globe. As a small open economy, we support international trade and the EU free trade agreements that seek to underpin this. In that context, I believe that ratifying the agreement would send a positive message to our trading partners around the world that Ireland continues to be committed to the values of open and fair global trade.

The Agreement has provisionally applied since 21st September 2017, meaning a great many of the benefits are already in place. Since provisional application, duties on 98% of products that the EU trades with Canada have been removed and goods exports to Canada have increased from €953 million in 2016 to more than €1.3 billion in 2021, an increase of 36%, while services exports grew from €1.6 billion in 2016 to more than €2.2 billion in 2020, an increase of 38 per cent. These figures demonstrate the positive impact of CETA.

At the Joint Oireachtas Committee last year, I highlighted the benefits of CETA. I also said that, while I welcome the scrutiny at Committee, I do not want ratification delayed and drifting indefinitely, and for Ireland to have to stand by and watch other EU member states ratify it ahead of us, as the majority have. That would send out the wrong message to the world. The number of EU Member States to ratify the Agreement rose from 15 to 16 in July this year when the Dutch Senate voted in favour of the Agreement.

The ratification process for CETA in Ireland has also been subject to legal challenges. In March last year, Deputy Patrick Costello commenced High Court proceedings on the basis of his view that CETA requires a referendum in order to be ratified in Ireland. The Government very much welcomed the Judgement in those High Court proceedings that issued last September. Deputy Costello has subsequently appealed the High Court’s decision to the Supreme Court and judgement is currently awaited. Separately, Senator Lynn Boylan has initiated a High Court action on ratification but a hearing date has not yet been set in this matter.

It remains the position that Government will consider the next steps in Ireland’s ratification process once the Supreme Court has delivered its judgement.