Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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47. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline his efforts to oppose the Mercosur Trade Agreement. [4447/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to supporting free, fair and open trade. Our membership of the EU makes us part of a growing network of EU Free Trade Agreements, supporting more opportunity for exports and investment, helping support jobs and growth at home, maintaining strict EU standards on food safety, animal and plant health, and supporting better environmental and human rights standards around the world.

We have always been clear, however, that EU trade agreements must defend our most vulnerable sectors and that our farmers’ livelihoods must not be undermined through weak or ineffective environmental standards in other countries. The new Programme for Government is very clear on this point of principle.

With respect to the EU-Mercosur agreement, in addition to our specific sector sensitivities such as agriculture, Ireland has repeatedly raised concerns regarding the strength of the trade and sustainability commitments in the original agreement negotiated in 2019. As a response to those concerns, the European Commission engaged in further negotiations with Mercosur on a new, interpretative legal instrument addressing sustainability commitments. On 6 December 2024, the Commission announced that it had concluded negotiations with Mercosur.

I wish to assure the Deputy that my officials and I continue to engage at EU level at every opportunity – with both the European Commission and with counterparts in EU Member States – concerning developments in relation to the EU-Mercosur Agreement, including at the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) with other EU Member State Ministers, as well as at meetings of officials in the Trade Policy Committee. I and officials have emphasised Ireland's requirements for credible, legally binding commitments on matters relating to trade and sustainable development, including climate, biodiversity, and deforestation protections, as well as protections and assurances in regard to incomes of farmers in Ireland.

Furthermore, in December I met virtually with the new Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefcovic, along with other EU Trade Ministers, where I outlined my concerns over possible unintended consequences of the agreement. The Commissioner has committed to travel to Ireland to meet with stakeholders, which I welcome as an important opportunity to engage constructively with the Commission as we seek clarifications and assurances on the legally binding nature of the commitments in the agreement.

Since the conclusion of negotiations last December, Irish officials have been carefully analysing the text of the additional legal instrument and have engaged with the Commission to interrogate the outcome of negotiations to assess if our concerns with the agreement have been adequately addressed. As it stands, it is not clear that the additional instrument provides the necessary legally binding assurances which Ireland has insisted upon throughout the negotiations.

That is why Ireland is not in a position to accept the EU-Mercosur deal as matters currently stand. Ireland is not alone among the traditionally pro-trade nations of Europe in taking this principled stand.

Engagements with the Commission are continuing as we seek sufficient clarification on the priority areas of climate, biodiversity, deforestation and the protection of farmer's incomes in advance of any final decision by Government.