Tag: free trade agreements

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Limited impact of Mercosur Partnership Agreement on the EU beef market

The EU reached a negotiated agreement on the final texts of what is now called the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement on 6 December last (for details see this Commission web page). They include the texts agreed in June 2019, plus the political and cooperation components of the deal agreed in June 2020, as well as additional elements resulting from negotiations between March 2023 and December 2024.

The agreed texts have led to major upheavals within the EU. Several Member States, including France, Ireland, Austria and Poland, have come out to oppose ratification of the agreement over concerns about the deal’s potential impact on both European agriculture and the Amazon rainforest.… Read the rest

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Brexit Withdrawal Agreement forwarded to UK

The EU Commission yesterday forwarded a draft Withdrawal Agreement to the UK authorities for negotiation. This draft builds on the initial draft submitted by the Commission for approval by the Council (Art.50) and the Brexit Steering Group of the European Parliament on 28 February last. To accompany that initial text, the Commission published a helpful Q&A as a guide to the withdrawal process which still remains valid today. Press reports have highlighted that governments tweaked the initial text in some minor ways but retained the broad thrust of the document.

Negotiators are expected to work on the draft over the weekend and in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday next week.… Read the rest

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UK Brexit and agriculture

I wrote a post last January on the agricultural implications of a British withdrawal from the EU (Brexit) for agriculture in the rest of the EU. Following submission of evidence to an Irish Parliamentary Committee on the implications of Brexit specifically for the Irish agri-food sector, I have developed the possible scenarios into a longer paper which can be downloaded here.
Although the discussion concentrates on the potential impact on the Irish agri-food sector, the early part of the paper discusses the possible alternative trade arrangements between the UK and the rest of the EU following a potential Brexit which might be of wider interest.… Read the rest