By Rob Harris
London: Irish farmers have issued a blunt warning to European Union negotiators not to sacrifice rural livelihoods in the rush to strike a long-awaited trade agreement with Australia amid fears over unequal standards and pressure to deliver a geopolitical win.
With formal negotiations between Canberra and Brussels restarting this month after a lengthy freeze, Irish farming leaders and political figures are demanding strict conditions on agricultural imports – particularly Australian beef – to ensure the deal does not undercut EU producers.
An Irish farmer rounds up cows for morning milking at his family-run dairy farm in County Cork.Credit: Bloomberg
“We can’t be anti-trade as Irish farmers – we export 90 per cent of our beef and 95 per cent of our dairy – but we need equivalence,” Irish Farmers’ Association policy director Tadhg Buckley said. “But we can’t have a situation where products coming in ... didn’t have to put up with the same level of regulation that we had.”
The proposed trade pact, launched in 2018, stalled in 2023 over access for Australian beef, lamb, dairy and sugar to the European market, as well as EU demands around geographic labelling protections and environmental safeguards. But officials on both sides are returning to negotiations after US President Donald Trump’s global tariff war began.
Buckley said Irish farmers accepted the importance of global trade but rejected any deal that left them exposed to unfair competition, particularly hormone-treated beef from Australia.
“We do know … a significant chunk of Australian beef is hormone beef or has used hormones. I’m not saying it’s unsafe ... but we can’t see that coming into the EU because simply it would give that product a competitive advantage over Irish values,” he said.
Australian beef cattle are judged at the Royal Melbourne show last year.Credit: Joe Armao
An estimated 40 per cent of cattle in Australia is treated with growth promotants to boost weight gain in the animals, which can improve the efficiency of meat production by about 15 per cent. Using growth hormones in beef production has been banned in the EU since 1989.
“We just want equivalence of standards. We cannot have a situation where our EU negotiators just decide to sacrifice beef farmers for getting access to services in Australia or whatever.”
Veteran Irish member of the European Parliament Sean Kelly, who chairs the European Parliament Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand, supports striking a deal but warned its timing was politically sensitive. He said if the controversial MERCOSUR deal – a South American trade bloc with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – proceeded first, it could trigger a backlash.
“There hasn’t been that much opposition from Irish farmers – or from anybody in Ireland – to the free trade agreement with Australia,” Kelly said. “The one they’re kicking up about is the MERCOSUR [agreement]. If that goes through first ... any other deal, even with friendly countries like Australia, could be seen as another hit.”
Buyers wait to bid for cattle at the Yea Saleyards in Victoria last year.Credit: Bloomberg
Kelly called the failure to finalise the deal last time “a deeply unfortunate situation” and urged the European Commission to “prioritise the resumption of negotiations and actively explore new compromise solutions to break the current deadlock”.
“In the evolving geopolitical landscape, concluding the EU-Australia FTA would be a critical asset in reinforcing a cooperative, rules-based global order,” Kelly said.
He highlighted the broader strategic importance of the deal, pointing to the EU’s aim to diversify trade partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, especially amid uncertainty around the United States’ trade stance and interruptions to supply chains caused by several conflicts around the world.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell said last month he was acutely aware of the political sensitivities among farmers on both sides of the debate. He is pushing for expanded quotas for key agricultural products and has made finalising the trade deal a centrepiece of post-COVID economic diplomacy.
A key voice within the EU’s agricultural bloc, Ireland has a position shaped by its small farm structure and low farm incomes.
Trade Minister Don Farrell.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Buckley cited new EU data showing the average Irish beef farm was just 32 hectares, earning between €18,000 and €23,000 a year ($32,000-41,000). “They can’t compete with large-scale hormone-fed beef,” he said. “The best chance we have is ... equivalence.”
While some Australian farm groups have pushed for “meaningful quotas” to make the deal worthwhile, Buckley stressed that market access must not come at the expense of EU standards.
“We can’t stand and say we don’t want any product into the EU under any circumstances ... but we don’t want to be the price of doing business. Not our farmers, not our families, not our future.”
Kelly said now was the moment to act.
“We’re away from elections now in both Australia and Europe. This is the best time politically to get something done.”
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