Speaking to Hungarian journalists after the European Parliament adopted legislation on a safeguard clause attached to the EU–Mercosur agreement, MEP Dömötör explained that the proposed free trade deal would open EU markets to the economies of the South American Mercosur bloc, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
According to MEP Dömötör, taken together with the already implemented EU–Ukraine trade agreement, the Mercosur deal could prove fatal for many European farmers. He said producers would be forced to compete with large-scale agricultural operations, while also facing unfair competition because South American and Ukrainian producers are not subject to the same strict regulatory standards as EU farmers. Even if such rules were formally imposed, he added, there would be no effective way to enforce them.
MEP Dömötör also warned of public health risks, noting that agricultural producers in these countries use chemical substances that have long been banned in the European Union due to their harmful effects on human health.
Hungary did not support the adoption of the safeguard clause linked to the Mercosur agreement, he said, because it offers no real protection for farmers. He argued that the European Commission would retain discretionary power over whether to intervene in the event of harm, and experience since the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products has shown that the Commission remains insensitive to the losses suffered by European farmers.
“We voted no. The Tisza representatives did not press the button, while their own European People’s Party group around them approved the proposal without hesitation,” MEP Dömötör said. He added that the European People’s Party, led by Manfred Weber, is one of the main lobbyists behind the Mercosur agreement.
According to MEP Dömötör, the situation mirrors what has happened on EU enlargement, war policy and migration: the Brussels-based party of Péter Magyar supports measures in Brussels that the Tisza Party denies at home. He warned that after elections, these policies could include opening Hungarian markets to large foreign agricultural enterprises, with serious consequences.
He also noted that large-scale farmers’ protests are taking place in Strasbourg and Brussels, driven by anger over EU plans to open markets to non-EU producers while cutting agricultural subsidies by around 20 percent in the next seven-year budget period. Taking inflation into account, this would amount to a roughly 50 percent reduction in support over a few years, he said, with the funds redirected toward new defence instruments and military support for Ukraine.
MEP Dömötör concluded by saying that Fidesz opposes irresponsible market opening and subsidy cuts, describing current EU policies as a premeditated attack on European farmers and European agriculture.