European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has promised national governments that plenty of EU money will be put aside for farmers in the coming years, in a final push to secure support for the Mercosur trade deal.
The fresh concessions put forward on future agriculture subsidies are seen as a bid to get the Italian and French governments to back plans to ink a major trade agreement between the EU and South America.
Ambassadors from the union’s 27 member states will vote on Friday to approve or reject the controversial trade deal in a decision that has been billed as a test of whether Europe can reduce its dependence on the United States.
Irish beef farmers oppose the deal because they fear being undercut by competition from cheaper South American beef. Farming organisations have also complained that South American farmers will not be held to the same regulatory standards as European counterparts.
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A sizeable majority of national capitals need to support the deal for it to be approved, with Italy seen as the swing vote.
It is believed Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni has been seeking assurances on future EU funding for farmers in return for Rome supporting the Mercosur deal.
The deal, which is more than 25 years in the making, would lower barriers to trade between Europe and the Mercosur countries of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
France, Ireland, Poland, Austria and Hungary have voiced their opposition to the agreement at different points. The Government has previously said it was working with like-minded countries to push back against the proposed deal.
In a letter on Tuesday, Ms von der Leyen laid out concessions on future EU funding for agriculture, which the commission president hopes will lock in Italy’s support for the trade deal, and possibly the vote of France as well.
The union’s administrative arm has said the deal will open up a significant new market for European industry and contains safeguards to prevent South American beef flooding the EU.
Ms von der Leyen said funding for agriculture would be front-loaded in the union’s next long-term budget, which will run from 2028 to 2034. Farmers would also be able to tap into a “crisis payment” fund in the event they were impacted by natural disasters, “adverse climatic events or animal diseases”, she wrote.
In the letter, Ms von der Leyen claimed the concessions would provide “unprecedented” support for farmers, in some cases even higher than what was available in the current EU budget.
The level of funding set aside for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has been the main point of contention in negotiations to hammer out the size and shape of the EU’s next seven-year budget.
A draft €2 trillion budget drawn up by the commission proposed overhauling CAP and regional development funding for roads and other projects, to put more cash towards defence and boosting Europe’s flagging economy.
The budget talks, which are expected to continue to the end of 2026, have become entangled with back-room Brussels deal-making to get the Mercosur trade pact over the line.
It has been reported the Italian government is poised to vote for the deal, which would likely see it approved by the EU.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) said the Government had been “absent” in the campaign to reject the Mercosur agreement. In a statement, the farming organisation said the Government should stop “hand-wringing” and take a firmer line in Brussels in support of farmers.
Fianna Fáil MEP for Dublin Barry Andrews has called for the deal to be approved, as a means to strengthen Europe’s position in the unstable global trading environment created by US tariffs.
