Within less than two months after the Commission put forward its proposal on a regulation implementing the bilateral safeguard clause of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and the EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement for agricultural products, the Council today approved the proposal without introducing any amendments.
The regulation strengthens protections for EU farmers in the context of the agreements and introduces into EU law the safeguard provisions included in both agreements for agricultural products. It aims to ensure that safeguard measures can be applied swiftly and effectively in case imports from Mercosur partners cause or threaten to cause serious injury.
This decision is without prejudice to the ongoing discussions within the Council on the signature and conclusion of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and interim Trade Agreement.
Scope of the safeguard measures
The regulation sets out how the EU can temporarily suspend tariff preferences on agricultural imports from Mercosur if these imports harm EU producers.
It builds on existing EU safeguard tools but introduces faster procedures and simpler triggers to protect EU farmers.
Investigations and monitoring
Investigations can be launched quickly at the request of member states or industry when there is evidence that imports are rising sharply or affecting EU markets. For sensitive products such as beef, poultry, dairy, sugar and ethanol, a price undercut of 10% by products coupled with either a 10% increase in preferential import volumes or a 10% drop in import prices will be treated as a rule as sufficient grounds to launch an investigation.
The investigation will examine factors such as import volumes, price trends, and the impact on production, sales, employment and profits in the EU sector affected.
For sensitive products, investigations will conclude within four months and in urgent cases, provisional measures can be introduced within 21 days.
The Commission will regularly monitor imports of identified sensitive products and report every six months to the Parliament and the Council on market developments and any risk of injury to EU producers.
Next steps
Once the European Parliament adopts its position, the co-legislators will finalise the work on the safeguard regulation. The regulation will enter into force once adopted by both institutions and published in the official journal.
Background
The bilateral safeguard clauses form part of both the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and the EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement.
The safeguard regulation complements the broader agreements, which aim to deepen trade and political relations between the EU and Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) while ensuring robust protection for EU agricultural sectors that may be particularly exposed to import competition.
O artigo foi publicado originalmente em Conselho Europeu.
