EU citizens, free trade agreements are good for agriculture

Brussels – Mercosur or Ceta, whatever they are called or whoever they are signed with, for Europeans, free trade agreements are good for agriculture and good for their wallets. The special Eurobarometer survey dedicated to the common agricultural policy contains a message that will not please those who persist in saying “no” to signing trade agreements. Especially several agricultural representative organisations condemning these understandings will be surprised at the disconnect with citizen-consumers, who instead promote initiatives such as the one just concluded by the European Commission, the signing with South American countries that inflames politics and the world of agriculture, European as well as Italian. 

Yet men and women in the European Union have no doubts. Between those who say that free trade is “very positive” (15 per cent) and those who consider it “rather positive” (56 per cent), practically seven out of ten (71 per cent) consider it good for the consumer—and thus for their shopping carts—to have arrangements with third countries to buy agri-food products and food to put on the table. This figure increases in the case of Italian respondents, who are among the most enthusiastic about free trade agreements. Overall, 80 per cent of people heard by Eurobarometer promote understandings such as the one with Mercosur just finalized (but still all to be approved by member states). While farmers criticize and denounce free trade agreements for negative fallout, two-thirds of EU citizens (66 per cent) believe that having agreements is good for European agriculture, between those who say it very strongly (13 per cent) and those who say it overall in a positive way (53 per cent). Once again, the Italians make their voices heard here: trade is good for EU agriculture for 78 per cent of respondents.