The political scientist warned about the risk of mass starvation in the EU due to agricultural policy

The policy of the European Union (EU) in the field of the agro-industrial complex (AIC) will lead European countries to mass starvation. Political scientist Alexey Yaroshenko shared this belief with Izvestia on January 28.

It is noted that Yaroshenko estimated the total financial losses that could entail key threats to the European agro—industrial complex — duty-free imports from Ukraine, abandonment of Russian fertilizers and rapprochement with MERCOSUR (MERCOSUR, the South American Common Market) at a trillion euros.

"Here we need to look at the multiplicative effect. These are not only direct losses, but also logistical, economic, and industrial difficulties that need to be addressed by paying intermediaries," the political scientist said.

According to Yaroshenko, family production and individual farmers will be the first to suffer, but large corporations also have nothing to hope for.

"They are very dependent on cheap resources for the production of fertilizers, they cannot grow in Europe without them. There is very little land, so we need to use it intensively," he explained.

Discussing the possible consequences of the EU deal with MERCOSUR, Yaroshenko recalled the risks to food quality and safety that European farmers fear.

"The question will arise: if the European establishment allows the import of low-quality food from MERCOSUR, why does it not allow the production of low-quality products inside Europe? <...> And this will seriously cast doubt on the regulatory policy," the political scientist concluded.

The EU and MERCOSUR, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, signed a trade agreement on January 17 after more than 25 years of discussions. According to him, the European Union and MERCOSUR are creating a free trade zone with a combined population of 718 million people and a gross domestic product of $22.4 trillion.

The head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, announced on January 9 that the EU countries had approved a controversial trade agreement with MERCOSUR. According to Costa, the agreement will bring "concrete benefits" to consumers and producers in Europe, strengthen farmers' rights and shape the new EU economy.

In July last year, the leader of the French Patriots party, Florian Philippot, said that the EU was undermining the French agro-industrial complex due to the duty-free import of Ukrainian agricultural products. According to the politician, the EU is "opening its doors wide" for Ukrainian sugar produced using pesticides that are banned in Europe.

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