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Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has defended his tough stance on the Mercosur deal, telling RTÉ’s CountryWide that his role is to “defend beef farmers”.
Earlier this week, Minister Creed raised some political eyebrows when he said he would do everything in his power to frustrate the Mercosur deal.
Asked if his reaction was in any way hysterical, he replied: “Beef farmers are where my interests lie.
“Sitting on my hands is not an option. I have to do everything in my power to protect beef farmers
“If beef was excluded [from the deal] I’d be at the front of the queue clapping this agreement.”
Commissioner Hogan
When asked on his opinion on whether Commissioner for Agriculture and party colleague Phil Hogan should be re-endorsed as commissioner in the next European Commission, Minister Creed said he believed he should be.
He was also asked to comment on reports that some members of the Fine Gael party thought Commissioner Hogan had not done a good enough job for agriculture on the deal, but Minister Creed pointed out that the original negotiation stance had been to let 300,000t of beef access to the EU market.
He added that the deal was spearheaded by the European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and not Phil Hogan.
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