EU to set up one-billion-euro 'reserve' for farmers hit by Mercosur deal

The EU said on Tuesday it plans to set up a one billion euro (US$1 billion) "reserve" for European farmers that might be negatively impacted by a trade deal with Latin America's Mercosur.

The money pot will be established under the bloc's next mid-term budget covering the 2028-2034 period – which has yet to be negotiated, the European Commission said. 

"The intention is for this to be a sort of insurance policy for our farmers and rural areas," commission spokesman Olof Gill told a press conference.

The deal between Brussels and four members of the Mercosur bloc – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – aims to create a 700-million-people free-trade area.

Announced as a "win-win" by commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in December, it has however faced stiff opposition from France and agricultural groups.

Already irked at regulatory burdens and squeezed revenues, European farmers say they will face unfair competition from their less-regulated Latin American peers.

But the commission said the pact opens valuable export opportunities for the agricultural and food industries and strong protections were negotiated into it to safeguard "sensitive sectors."

These included a maximum EU market share for Mercosur imports and provisions allowing for the commission to "respond quickly in the event of a serious market impact," Gill said. 

The one-billion fund would act as a means of last resort in the "unlikely event" that these protections were to fail, he added.

Greenlighted by Brussels, the deal still needs to be approved by at least 15 of the European Union's 27 member nations to be formally adopted.

– TIMES/AFP