Parliament split over safeguards for Mercosur deal
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Euractiv | 2 December 2025
Parliament split over safeguards for Mercosur dealParliament split over safeguards for Mercosur deal
by Alice Bergoënd
Members in the European Parliament’s trade committee split on Tuesday over whether to amend the safeguard measures linked to the EU-Mercosur agreement, while their colleagues in the agriculture committee unanimously demanded stronger reciprocity.
The safeguards, unveiled by the European Commission on 8 October, are intended to shield EU farmers from potential negative impacts of the deal and to help win over reluctant EU countries.
After the Council approved the regulation without changes, the trade committee (INTA), which is responsible for shaping Parliament’s position, remains divided.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Spain’s Gabriel Mato (EPP), the rapporteur for the file, urged MEPs to approve the text without amendments in order to move quickly before the Mercosur deal’s planned signing later this month.
“If we try to make everything perfect, we might end up with nothing at all,” he warned.
But opposition came from across the political spectrum. Belgian Socialist Kathleen Van Brempt called for “greater ambition,” while Poland’s Anna Mirosława Bryłka (PfE) dismissed the measures as “an illusion”.
The debate on reciprocity
During the meeting, Italy’s Francesco Torselli (ECR) argued that only reciprocity-based measures on imported goods – ensuring Mercosur imports meet EU standards – would genuinely protect farmers.
On this point, Germany’s Svenja Hahn (Renew) cautioned that such a measure could not be introduced by the Parliament through the safeguards, as doing so would effectively require reopening the deal itself.
A similar call came from the Parliament’s agriculture committee (AGRI) on the same day.
In their opinion on the safeguards, adopted Tuesday, AGRI MEPs unanimously demanded “a clear reciprocity clause” – a condition countries such as France consider essential before backing the deal.
However, the Commission sought to manage the expectations.
During an exchange of views with agriculture MEPs on Monday, DG TRADE official Leopoldo Rubinacci pointed to the Commission’s forthcoming impact assessment on preventing EU-banned pesticides from reappearing in imported goods as a tool for strengthening reciprocity.
A similar message came from the EU agriculture commissioner during a meeting with France’s main farmers’ union, FNSEA, in Paris.
The Commission has committed to tightening maximum residue limits for banned pesticides in imports, possibly via the food safety simplification package expected on 16 December.
AGRI MEPs also criticised the draft safeguards for relying on volume-based thresholds they argue are set too high.
They further called for the option to temporarily suspend preferential imports in cases of market disruption, rather than only withdrawing tariff preferences as currently proposed.
Italian MEP Herbert Dorfmann (EPP) said on Monday that a stronger involvement of the agriculture committee would have increased acceptability among farmers, who are set to take to the streets in Brussels on 18 December.
INTA will vote on its report on 8 December, ahead of the full Parliament’s vote on 16 December.
