Julie Girling (ECR). – Madam President, I am saddened to hear so many colleagues using this crisis is an opportunity to trot out their dogmatic anti-global views. Our reaction to the Brazilian meat scandal should not be a purely protectionist attitude. Suggestions that the scandal could undermine the negotiation of the EU-Mercosur Agreement are not only unhelpful, they are also disproportionately excessive in my view.

Four plants eligible to export to the EU were implicated in the scandal. This is very manageable in terms of an investigation. Moreover, given the increasingly interdependent nature of the global environment such a closed-minded approach would be counter-productive and damaging at a much broader level. The focus should be on finding ways better to uphold Europe’s high standards. This applies both to the delivery of consumers’ expectations for quality as well as ensuring that the EU producers are not penalised for adapting to ensure these standards are maintained.

I would like to see a full report identifying lessons that we can learn and measures to be enforced. I know that Mr Siekierski summed up our questions at the beginning and we would like to hear full answers.