Ciarán Mullooly: Calls for Impact Assessment on EU-Australia Deal
MEP Ciarán Mullooly urged the Commission to assess the combined impact of the EU-Australia and UK-Australia trade agreements on Irish beef exports, farmgate prices and market share. He warned that increased duty-free access for Australian products risks displacing Irish and European produce in the UK market.
Market dependence on the UK
Ciarán Mullooly reminded colleagues that, for geographical and logistical reasons, the UK is Ireland's most important beef market. He noted exports to the UK were worth approximately £1.6 billion and accounted for almost half of Ireland's total beef exports, underlining the sector's vulnerability to changes in trade barriers and competition.
Rising duty-free access from Australia
Mullooly highlighted that the UK-Australia agreement is progressively increasing duty-free access for Australian beef, sheep meat, sugar, butter and cheese. He flagged a realistic future risk that lower-cost imports could displace Irish and European produce from UK supermarket shelves, affecting farmgate prices and market share over time.
A call for a cumulative impact assessment
Before granting Australia further access to the EU market, Mullooly asked the Commission to evaluate the combined effects of the EU-Australia and UK-Australia agreements. He pressed for analysis specifically on Irish beef exports, farmgate prices and market share to ensure European farmers are not further exposed.
Farmers should not pay twice
Mullooly concluded by arguing that European farmers must not be expected to bear the cost twice: once through increased imports into the EU and again by losing valuable export markets into the United Kingdom. His intervention frames the issue as both an economic and policy priority for the Commission and for MEPs considering trade commitments.
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Thank you Chair. Trade agreements cannot be assessed in isolation. We must examine the cumulative impact on European farmers on an established markets for EU produce and I'll try and explain why. For geographical or logistical reasons, the UK is Ireland's most important beef market. Our exports to the UK were worth approximately £1.6 billion and accounted for almost half our total beef exports. Yet the UK-Australia agreement is progressively increasing duty-free access already for Australian beef, sheep, meat, sugar, butter and cheese. So this creates a real risk that lower cost imports will displace Irish and European produce from UK supermarket shelves. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the future. So before granting Australia further access to the EU market, will the Commission assess the combined impact of the EU-Australia and UK-Australia agreements on Irish beef exports, farmgate prices and market share? European farmers must not be expected to pay twice through increased imports into the EU and by losing valuable export markets into the United Kingdom.
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