Algarve farmers are raising the alarm over the European Union-Mercosul trade deal, warning that it would hit Portuguese agriculture hard and have “severe” impacts on “vulnerable” regions like the Algarve.
The Algarve Agriculture Federation (Fedagri) took a stand on Tuesday against the deal, agreed upon by the EU and Mercosur – a South American economic and political bloc created to promote free trade and economic integration among its member countries, which include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The deal will be officially signed in Paraguay on Saturday, creating one of the largest free trade areas in the world, with more than 700 million consumers.
In a nutshell, the deal will open the door for Europe to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to South America, which in turn will find it easier to sell meat, sugar, rice, honey and soya to European countries.
Farmers in the Algarve are concerned that the deal “represents a serious risk to agricultural income, the survival of family farms and the sustainability of the rural world, with particularly severe impacts on vulnerable regions like the Algarve”.
They add that the agreement will force them to “compete under different rules and pay the price in silence.”
In other words, the deal will “weaken Portuguese agriculture” and jeopardise the “economic survival of the European primary sector,” the federation argues, recalling that the deal has also sparked controversy in other European countries.
The opposition to the EU–Mercosul agreement stems mainly from fears that it will expose an already fragile sector to unfair competition. Agriculture in the country is largely made up of small, family-run farms with limited margins, and farmers worry that cheaper imports from South America will push prices down, making it harder for local producers to survive, they explain.
A key concern is the difference in production rules. Portuguese farmers must comply with strict European standards on food safety, environmental protection, labour rights and animal welfare, which increase costs. Products from Mercosul countries, farmers argue, are often produced under less demanding regulations, creating unequal competition and placing downward pressure on prices.
“Opening the market to products from regions where such requirements are not fully applied creates, in practice, asymmetric competition, ‘regulatory dumping’ and downward pressure on producer prices,” the federation argues.
These concerns are intensified by the Algarve’s structural and environmental constraints. Chronic water scarcity, rising climate pressures, high input and transport costs and competition from tourism already make farming in the region difficult. Farmers fear that further market liberalisation, without strong safeguards, will lead to reduced incomes, abandonment of farmland and long-term damage to rural communities.
Finally, there is frustration over what farmers see as a lack of guarantees and consultation. Agricultural organisations argue that the agreement has moved forward without proper regional impact assessments or clear mechanisms to protect farmers if imports destabilise the market, leaving the Algarve’s agricultural sector exposed to the consequences of a deal they feel they had little say in.
“Fedagri rejects that decisions of this magnitude be conducted in the shadow of concentrated interests and ‘lobbies’, while the majority of the Portuguese agricultural fabric, dispersed, family-based and regional, faces the costs and consequences,” the federation said.
On a closing note, the farmers urge the government to demand effective reciprocity, national and regional impact studies, and strict monitoring measures before giving the deal its full backing.
