MEPs are last hope of halting deal on Mercosur
FARMING organisations across the EU are poised to launch their most intensive ever lobbying of MEPs in a last ditch bid to halt the Mercosur trade deal.
IFA President, Francie Gorman, travelled to Berlin last week to meet farm leaders from other countries to plan their lobbying campaign of the 720 MEPs across the EU’s 27 member states.
“If we are to defeat the Mercosur deal in the EU Parliament, we will need farmers in all 27 Member States to lobby their MEPs,” said Francie Gorman.
He called for the mobilisation of ‘a farmer army’ across the EU to embark on the largest lobbying exercise ever undertaken by farming organisations across the EU.
Ireland, with 14 MEPs or just under 2% of the European Parliament seats, will be ‘small players in the overall vote’, but countries like France with 81 MEPs – who opposed the Mercosur deal – could have a major impact if they adopt a ‘bloc voting’ tactic.
Yesterday [Wednesday], farmers across Europe mobilised in Strasbourg to coincide with the opening day of the 2026 European Parliament sessions with thousands of farmers taking to the streets, backed up by over 1,000 tractors.
Over the coming weeks, the European Parliament will officially vote on whether to ratify the deal or not and they are also due to vote on whether they will refer the deal to the European Court of Justice.
Galway IFA Chairman, Stephen Canavan, told the Farming Tribune that while the lobbying of EU MEPs on the deal was ‘a huge undertaking’ it represented a last chance to oppose the trade package.
“This is a bad deal for farmers and consumers across Ireland and the EU which will allow the importation of thousands of tonnes of beef and poultry, which are produced with the controls and checks,” that apply across Europe.
He said that if any of those imports were found to be contaminated with antibiotics, hormones or carcinogenic substances, an immediate blanket ban should be immediately applied.
The escalating tariff war being embarked upon by US President, Donald Trump, could also be a major influence on the European Parliament vote with EU countries actively seeking market options outside of the United States.
Pictured: Francie Gorman: Every MEP will be lobbied.