The EU-Mercosur Agreement is one of the European Union’s largest planned trade agreements. Negotiations have been ongoing for over 25 years, and the agreement was signed in 2026. The most sensitive aspect of the agreement concerns the agricultural sector.
[av_heading heading='What is the EU-Mercosur Agreement?' tag='h3' style="" size="" subheading_active="" subheading_size='15' padding='10' color="" custom_font="" admin_preview_bg=""][/av_heading]
The Southern Common Market (Mercosur) is a regional trade bloc in South America. Its member states are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. With an area of more than 12 million km², the Mercosur single market is larger than China, Canada, or the United States. Together with the EU, this would create one of the largest free trade zones in the world.
The purpose of the agreement is:
to reduce tariffs,
to reduce trade barriers,
Facilitate market access for industrial and agricultural products.
While various industries are hoping to tap into new markets, there is particularly intense debate in the agricultural sector. This is because the sector brings together a wide variety of production systems, cost structures, and sustainability standards.
The elimination of tariffs could make European industrial products (such as machinery or vehicles) significantly more competitive. In return, agricultural products from South America would gain easier access to the European market, including:
Soybeans and soybean meal
Beef
Poultry meat
Sugar and ethanol
[av_heading heading='Soybean Imports, Animal Feed, and Price Pressure' tag='h3' style=" size=" subheading_active=" subheading_size='15' padding='10' color=" custom_font=" admin_preview_bg="][/av_heading]
The EU already imports millions of tons of soy annually (primarily from Brazil and Argentina) to supply the European livestock industry. About 85–90% of the soy used in the EU comes from imports (source: European Commission, EU Protein Strategy). A large portion of this is used as feed in conventional livestock farming. If trade barriers continue to fall, this dependence could deepen.
Meat prices are already very low:
According to AMA market data and price surveys in the Austrian food retail sector, 1 kg of conventional chicken is regularly offered at promotional prices below €5 (Source: AMA Market Reports on Poultry, Retail Observations 2024/2025).
These prices are made possible by:
intensive livestock farming
global commodity flows
imported animal feed
significant economies of scale
enormous cost pressures throughout the entire value chain
A market where 1 kg of chicken costs less than, say, 1 kg of seasonal organic vegetables shows just how heavily the conventional food industry already relies on global commodity flows.
The key question, therefore, is:
Should competition be determined primarily by the lowest feed price—or by quality, transparency, and sustainable production systems?
[av_heading heading='Impact on Organic Farming and the Organic Market in Europe' tag='h3' style="" size="" subheading_active="" subheading_size='15' padding='10' color="" custom_font="" admin_preview_bg=""][/av_heading]
In the short term, no immediate structural changes are expected for the European organic sector:
EU organic standards remain mandatory
Imported products must continue to comply with EU regulations
Certification systems ensure clear production criteria
In the long term, however, the impact of the EU-Mercosur agreement on organic farming in Europe will depend on how the agreement is implemented.
The key point is:
Will environmental and social standards be designed in a way that allows for verification and the imposition of sanctions?
Will a level playing field for European organic farms be maintained?
Will regional economic growth and resilient structures continue to receive political support?
[av_heading heading='Regional Organic Structures as a Factor of Stability in Europe' tag='h3' style="" size="" subheading_active="" subheading_size='15' padding='10' color="" custom_font="" admin_preview_bg=""][/av_heading]
A stabilizing factor for the organic market, particularly in the DACH region, remains its strong regional character. It is precisely this deep-rootedness in established structures, long-term partnerships, and clearly defined quality standards that makes the sector more resilient to global price pressures.
The globalization of markets—and, by extension, of agriculture—is a reality. From a purely economic perspective, it makes sense to manufacture products where production costs are lowest, while knowledge-intensive services are created in high-wage countries. However, a closer look at the reasons behind supposedly “cheaper” locations reveals that cost advantages are often based on weaker labor rights and lower standards for nature, animal, and environmental protection.
These differences are particularly evident in the meat market. Austrian cattle farmers are watching with concern as cheap beef from South America floods the European market. Originally, grazing animals on the fertile grasslands of the Pampa Húmeda stood for extensive, nature-oriented production. But with growing global demand, the structure there has also changed: a significant portion of the animals are now kept on massive farms and fattened with concentrated feed.
The organic sector is therefore structurally more stable than the conventional market, but it is not entirely immune to broader economic price fluctuations. If the gap between low-cost and high-quality products continues to widen, there will be a greater need to explain this to consumers.
[av_heading heading='LAMPERT's Position: Authentic Regionality as the Answer' tag='h3' style="" size="" subheading_active="" subheading_size='15' padding='10' color="" custom_font="" admin_preview_bg=""][/av_heading]
The future of the European organic market will not be determined by customs borders, but by the consistency with which quality, transparency, and sustainability are implemented.
Our core value of authentic regionality means:
closed-loop systems
locally sourced feed
transparent supply chains
measurable sustainability throughout the entire value chain
Trade agreements must not result in indirect pressure on environmental standards. Market access should only be granted where sustainability standards are subject to mandatory verification and fair competitive conditions are ensured.
[av_heading heading='What can each of us do?' tag='h3' style=" size=" subheading_active=" subheading_size='15' padding='10' color=" custom_font=" admin_preview_bg="][/av_heading]
Skip the €5 chicken and opt for higher-quality products instead. If you cut back on your meat consumption at the same time, it won’t cost you any more.