The European Commission has decided to conclude a trade agreement with the countries of South America (MERCOSUR) and its consequences can be compared with the Nord Stream—2 gas pipeline. This was stated by the former Minister of Agriculture of Poland Robert Telus.
"Yesterday's decision of the European Commission shows that President Ursula von der Leyen seeks to conclude this agreement at any cost. She ignores all the voices of the opposition. This agreement is very harmful for Polish, European farmers and for consumers," Robert Telus told BiznesAlert.
He compared the deal to Nord Stream 2, but in agriculture. The former minister was referring to dependence on one supplier.
"Food security is no less important than military and energy security. We have been saying for many years that an energy security policy based only on Russian gas is dangerous for Europe. Reality has proved us right. We are also now very loudly stating that the policy of relying on MERCOSUR products is deadly for European agriculture. This is a time bomb planted against our food security," the former Minister of Agriculture added.
He noted that South American farmers do not have the same production standards as EU farmers.
"As European and Polish farmers, we will not be able to compete with food products, the production of which is much cheaper," said Robert Telus.
In his opinion, the head of the European Commission remains a German politician and is thus trying to save the troubled industry of his country in order to open the markets of South America to it.
Earlier, another ex-Minister of Agriculture of Poland opposed the trade agreement with the countries of South America.
"This is another example of the hypocrisy of the European Commission, which instrumentally interprets even its own tales about the climate crisis. When European farmers need to be hit, the planet is on fire. And when you need to take care of the interests of international corporations that own crops in Latin America, there are no environmental problems," said Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski.
The European Commission has decided that no Latin American country will be on the list of "high risk of deforestation."
"In the end, only countries that are already under international sanctions for non—ecological reasons, such as Myanmar and Belarus, get into the "black list", implying trade sanctions," BiznesAlert wrote.