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The free trade agreement between the EU and the South American trade bloc Mercosur must, in the opinion of Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, include appropriate safeguards so that the rules that apply to European farmers will also apply to imported products. In the case of appropriate safeguards, Slovenian farmers therefore have nothing to fear, he assured.
“It is in Europe’s interest to open new markets. At the same time, we must ensure that our markets are actually equivalent, that our producers, including food producers, and industry are in an equal position,” Golob said upon his arrival at the EU summit in Brussels regarding the signing of the agreement concluded last December between the Union and Mercosur.
He expressed his conviction that both interests will be satisfied if the so-called mirror safeguards are fully implemented within the framework of the agreement. Under them, the rules that apply to European farmers and industry will also apply to products imported from South America, he explained.
If the agreement includes safeguards, which in the prime minister’s opinion will indeed happen, Slovenia will also support its signing. Likewise, in the case of appropriate safeguards in the agreement, Slovenian farmers do not need to fear unfair competition, he assured.
Around 70 farmers from Slovenia are today taking part in a pan-European farmers’ protest, which is taking place on the sidelines of the European Council meeting.
The president of the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia (KGZS) Jože Podgoršek highlighted as the main problems the trade agreement between the EU and the South American trade bloc, the proposal for a new multiannual financial framework of the EU, and the bureaucratic burdens that weigh on European farmers. (18 December)