The Regional Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation, Rodrigo Oliveira, conveyed to the President of the European Commission, Durão Barroso, “the concerns of the Azorean Government regarding the negotiations between the European Union and MERCOSUL and the negative impact of trade liberalisation on European agriculture, particularly on the Azorean meat production sector.”

Rodrigo Oliveira spoke on behalf of the President of the Government at an audience with the President of the European Commission held in Brussels on Thursday afternoon in the context of the Conference of Presidents of Outermost Regions.

“The liberalisation and opening of the EU market to meat from the MERCOSUL countries, with lower production costs and without the EU quality standards and environmental, traceability or animal feed criteria, will jeopardise the viability and sustainability of meat production in the Azores, being also a constraint to the competitiveness of the EU market,” Rodrigo Oliveira stated, adding that “in the Azores, an outermost region facing all constrains and limitations to the diversification of productions, the meat production sector complies with all EU requirements.  In addition, the number of slaughtered animals has increased in the Azores as well as the export of products, which evidences the increased importance of the meat production sector in the Azorean agricultural production.”

In this context, the Regional Under Secretary for European Affairs requested the President of the European Commission that the specific status of the ORs be taken into account during the negotiation, preparation and implementation of the agreements with MERCOSUL as well as the serious consequences brought by this liberalisation.

“We request that the Commission determine the assessment of the impact of the agreements with MERCOSUL on the meat production sector of the ORs, particularly in the Azores, and that the necessary support and compensation measures for Azorean producers be implemented as well as a phased calendar for the liberalisation process.”

During the audience with Durão Barroso, the Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation also addressed the future of the EU cohesion policy, whose first proposals should be presented by the EU Commission during this month, and reinforced “the need for a specific treatment that embodies the status of ORs and the flexibility in their structuring that allows to reflect the particularities of these Regions,” highlighting the role of Commission as the entity in charge of ensuring the compliance with the Treaties.

“We are striving for a transverse application of the status and specificities of the ORs in the 2014-2020 cohesion policy or when the regional competitiveness and production capacity is undermined by the EU interests, external and trade policy,” Rodrigo Oliveira concluded, stressing that “the importance and significance of the meeting at a time of particular complexity, evidencing the special attention that the President of the EU Commission has always drawn to the Outermost Regions.”