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The existence of the whole EU farm sector will be at risk from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a new Friends of the Earth Europe report says.
The Trading away EU farmers report reviews modelling studies carried out in the EU and US on the impacts of TTIP.
The report into the controversial trade deal says TTIP will massively increase imports from US, while having far fewer benefits for EU producers.
Studies foresee a decline of up to 0.8% for EU agriculture’s contribution to gross domestic product, while US agriculture’s contribution to it will increase by 1.9% – a net trade benefit to US interests of over €4bn.
Mute Schimpf from Friends of the Earth Europe said the proposed TTIP agreement will be “a bad deal for European farming.”
“The majority of EU farmers are predicted to lose out and with many of them already struggling to survive this could be the final knock-out blow. There is real concern that European farming is being sacrificed to get a TTIP deal at any costs.”
Mr Schimpf also said “any removal of EU restrictions will mean a huge increase in imports and could be the final nail in the coffin for some EU farming sectors.”
Lowering of high-value products
According to the report, the existence of whole EU farm sectors – such as grassland beef production – will be at risk from the agreement.
Friends of the Earth Ireland chair Dr Cara Augustenborg said the findings confirm that TTIP will lower the value of most Irish agricultural products, particularly beef, because farming systems cannot compete on price with the intensive, environmentally damaging, factory farming systems of the United States.”
The report says that corporate lobby groups, in both the US and Europe, are pushing for greater access to each other’s agricultural markets, with the US in particular targeting Europe’s generally higher safety and animal welfare standards. However, even if EU standards are maintained, increased imports from the US will still flood European markets, ensuring huge export opportunities and profits for food corporations and US factory farms at the expense of European farmers.
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