EU Ombudsman Investigates Import of 'Sustainable' Meat from South America

The European Commission Ombudsman is launching an investigation into the way the EU concluded the Mercosur trade agreement with five South American countries.

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly initiates her investigation in response to complaints from five European human rights and environmental organizations, who claim that the European Commission did not priorly assess the trade deal against the EU’s own sustainability objectives (SIA).

The five complaining organizations assert that by omitting this step, the Commission ignored its own guidelines and violated the EU Treaty on sustainability goals for all EU trade. They are also calling for an inquiry into why the EU Commissioners omitted this assessment and why this was kept silent.

O’Reilly decided to use the investigation to pose further questions to the Commission, including whether the standard procedure for SIAs was followed. The Ombudsman has requested the Commission to respond within three months.

The complainants – ClientEarth, Fern, Veblen Institute, La Fondation Nicolas Hulot pour la Nature et l’Homme, and the International Federation for Human Rights – argue that the EU Commission concluded the deal without a proper assessment of the potential damage it might cause. They disagree with the Commission’s evaluation that new, expanded food and meat exports between South America and Europe can be conducted in a sustainable manner.

Irish Member of the European Parliament (Fianna Fáil) Billy Kelleher welcomes the investigation into the trade agreement between the EU Commission and Mercosur, stating he finds the idea that the Mercosur agreement has no significant sustainability impact “absurd.”

“We already produce sufficient high-quality beef ourselves in the EU countries, according to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards,” he continued. “How can producing beef in South America and then transporting it across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe be ecologically sustainable?”

“We need to reconsider the Mercosur deal and, frankly, scrap it,” said MEP Billy Kelleher. The Fianna Fáil MEP welcomes the announcement of the investigation into the trade agreement between the EU Commission and Mercosur. The Mercosur trade agreement provides for the import of a limited amount of beef from the Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay at reduced tariff rates. The EU and the Mercosur group of countries reached the agreement on the trade pact in 2019.

If one or more EU countries ultimately decide not to accept the Mercosur treaty, this does not mean the treaty will not proceed. In fact, important parts of it are already in effect. In such a case, EU Commissioners will have to renegotiate modifications on contested parts with the South American countries.

Currently, the treaty is at the stage where all parliaments in the 27 EU countries must ratify the Mercosur agreement. The regional Belgian parliament of Wallonia has already voted against it, and the Dutch parliament has also rejected the treaty in a non-binding motion.

At this moment, the European Union is also negotiating similar trade agreements with the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. In these cases too, questions are increasingly raised about whether economic interests in unhindered free trade (‘free movement of goods’) should always take priority over protecting domestic (European) criteria for food safety, agriculture, and sustainability.