On Wednesday, the European Commission adopted a text to start the process of ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.
If approved, it would create the world's biggest free-trade zone and increase EU exports to Mercosur countries - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - by up to 39% at a value of €49 billion to the European economy.
Mercosur countries would be given an export quota of 99,000 tonnes of beef to sell into the EU at a much-reduced tariff rate of 7.5%, as well as 180,000 tonnes of poultry.
In a time of extreme volatility for global trade - with threats of sky-high tariffs emanating at regular intervals from Washington - on the surface Mercosur looks to be largely positive for the EU.
However, a number of member states (notably Ireland and France) are strongly opposed to its ratification, citing the potential to massively distort key agricultural markets if EU farmers - for example - suddenly had to compete with lower-cost South American beef.
Beef prices have jumped recently and farmers are concerned that a flood of South American imports could jeopardise this and their incomes.
Safeguards for farmers
To allay such fears, the commission has proposed legal safeguards for farmers that would see a review of the agreement being triggered in the event of Mercosur beef imports leading to a sharp drop in prices.
There would also the option to increase tariffs and even limit the levels of beef coming from South America.
While the commission said there will be €6.3 billion fund available to European farmers, should there be further market-distorting effects.
Such measures are unprecedented in a free-trade agreement of this nature.
Though, farming groups remain unconvinced, with the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) leading the opposition here.
IFA President Francie Gorman said the commission's safeguards "will not wash with Irish farmers".
He also said promises to boost oversight of the standard of beef coming into the EU (to ensure it meets the strict production regulations that Irish farmers have to adhere to) are not credible.
"The commission themselves are not convinced about the record of Mercosur countries, and specifically Brazil. Agreeing to more audits and checks underlines how far short the oversight is at the moment," the IFA President said.
He added there is "unease about how food is produced in Brazil" and "to announce something at the eleventh hour to ensure compliance is hardly going to engender confidence among European producers and consumers".
Commission's tunnel vision for Mercosur
Despite this, Brussels is doubling down with its reassurance for farmers, and employing statistics to do so.
This includes pointing out that the 99,000 tonnes of beef allowed to be exported to the EU would comprise just 1.5% of the total amount consumed across the 27 member states.
Though, a consideration here is whether the commission is working so hard to convince because it believes the safeguards will be sufficient to protect agricultural prices, or if it simply has tunnel-vision determination to get the Mercosur agreement over the line to show US President Donald Trump that the EU can live without the US.
Whatever about the motivations, the context here is crucial - ratifying the Mercosur deal would make a big statement by creating a free-trade area covering 700 million people.
European industries such as car manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and services would get a significant boost.
While many Irish sectors reeling from Mr Trump's tariffs will be looking at the prospect of Mercosur very positively.
The commission has also pointed out that opportunities for EU dairy exports to South America could prove extremely lucrative with a deal in place.
And beyond beef and dairy, opening up the Mercosur market could offer a much-needed boost to Ireland's grain growers.
The sector says that - despite high tariffs - it has had to compete with Mercosur imports (mainly soybean and maize) since the 1990s, which has had a big impact.
According to Clive Carter from the Irish Grain Growers Group, the situation was made harder by EU growers not being able to use banned pesticides and GM methods, unlike their South American counterparts.
This aspect would lend weight to the IFA's concerns around regulatory oversight.
Although with a trade agreement in place, Mr Carter points out that this "could be of huge benefit" for his members.
For example, if Irish spirits gain tariff-free access to a lot of South America then those growing grains for the likes of whiskey could see a spike in business.
Reassurance from EU-Canada trade deal?
The Canada experience could also offer an insight as to what Irish farmers might expect from Mercosur.
In 2017 CETA came into force, with the EU-Canada trade deal removing nearly all tariffs between the two sides.
Ahead of that agreement farmers also highlighted fears that Canadian imports would harm EU agricultural markets, but since CETA came into effect very low levels of Canadian beef have entered Ireland (around €25,000 worth every year).
However, Irish beef exports to Canada have tripled in that time.
The commission's stance here is that to export beef into the EU, a lot of regulatory hurdles need to be jumped and it's not worth it for many suppliers.
In the Canadian case, for most of them it wasn't worth their while, so they focused on the American and Chinese markets instead.
Debate likely to rumble on
The Mercosur ratification process is expected to take at least a year, so expect many of the arguments on both sides to be regularly rehashed.
The European Commission is going very far out of its way to reassure farmers that Mercosur is a positive for them.
Even if they are proved right, the scepticism of the farming community is more than understandable.
This trade deal comes hot on the heels of the commission's radical proposals to overhaul the Common Agricultural Policy, which would see a significant reduction in EU funding ringfenced for farmers.
At the same time, Brussels is making Irish farmers jump through even more hoops and show efforts to protect habitats if they want to retain the nitrates derogation.
Read more: McGrath urges 'open mind' on Mercosur trade deal
Add to that an ever-expanding list of environmental regulations.
They feel they are being increasingly backed into a corner by the EU, at a time when the future of farming across Europe is becoming more uncertain.
And they're not alone. The Irish and French governments have taken on their concerns and restated their opposition to Mercosur this week, while the likes of Poland and Austria are very much on the fence.
Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has urged member states to keep an open mind on Mercosur "based on the facts".
Perhaps that's ultimately when this debate will have to be settled.
Once we know what the real-world impact of South American imports on the EU is, because thus far an unprecedented level of reassurance isn't getting farmers on side.
But will we get there, given the division across the EU on Mercosur?
