EU Meetings
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Neale Richmond (FG), Dublin Rathdown

The Deputy's point is well made. He knows as well as I do the complexities of EU law and the right of the European Commission to negotiate a trade deal and of the European Council to give it the power to implement something in reflection of a vote passed by absolute majority or qualified majority voting, QMV, as was decided.
The Irish Government is clear that it does not back the Mercosur deal. We are against it. We voted against it. We lobbied against it for an intense period, building an alliance with many member states. We recognise the vote of the European Parliament and think there is absolute cause to pause everything relating to the Mercosur deal until that judgment is made. We will continue to work at a bilateral level with other EU member states, particularly those like-minded ones. Our Ministers have been in discussions. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, was at a European Council meeting in Larnaca this week alone. Other Ministers will continue to raise it at every opportunity, at Council level and bilateral level and, crucially, directly with commissioners and directors general in the European Commission.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05