Austria's role in Mercosur: Opportunities for the export industry in view!

Austria's role in Mercosur: Opportunities for the export industry in view!

Vienna, Österreich - The pressure to revise the Austrian attitude to the Mercosur free trade agreement grows. Minister of Economics Kocher calls for a “rethink” in the National Council and emphasizes the need for a new decision to question the existing negative resolutions from 2019. The agreement would not only be legally relevant, but also harbors numerous opportunities for Austria. According to Kocher, jobs could be created through the agreement and Austria's status could be consolidated as an export nation. The minister warns that the country could otherwise lose importance in geopolitical competition, especially since the Mercosur countries, the Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, are an important economic region that has crucial raw materials that Europe is currently often dependent on, such as tagesschau.de reported.

The planned agreement is said to create the largest free trade zone in the world and affect more than 700 million people. The EU hopes to achieve its economic and geostrategic goals by deepening the trade connections to the Mercosur countries. The EU most recently imported 55.7 billion euros from these countries and exported goods worth 53.7 billion euros. Despite the significant potential economic advantages, there is also sharp criticism: farmers fear that cheap competition from South America and lower environmental standards in the Mercosur countries of domestic agricultural production. These concerns are taken seriously by Kocher, who notes that compensation payments from the EU are intended for any market distortions and that quotas for the beef contingent are to be determined.

The criticism of environmental associations is also vehemently because they fear that the agreement could heat the deforestation in the Amazon area. Kocher counters these concerns by arguing that a non-conclusion of the agreement would not increase environmental protection measures. He calls for a broader parliamentary discussion about the advantages of the agreement, which should create a balance between economic interests and ecological responsibilities before a final decision could be made at the EU level in the summer of 2025. The agreement is checked according to the legal framework that is now being discussed.