While European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Uruguay to finalize the Mercosur agreement, France, in the midst of a political crisis, continues to express its opposition to the trade agreement.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has landed in Latin America to finalize the Mercosur deal, while Europe’s main opponent of the deal suffers a government collapse.
“Touchdown in Latin America, the finish line of the EU-Mercosur deal is in sight,” von der Leyen posted on Twitter on Thursday, adding: “Let’s cross it! We have the opportunity to create a market of 700 million people. The largest trade and investment partnership the world has ever seen. Both regions will benefit.
The response from Paris was not long in coming. A press release from the Élysée indicates that the French president spoke with Ursula von der Leyen to tell her that the agreement is “unacceptable as it stands”.
France will continue “relentlessly” to defend its “agricultural sovereignty”, the press release continues.
France is fiercely opposed to the agreement, which aims to create a free trade zone between the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and the European Union, but Ms von der Leyen, whose attention is elsewhere, seems to want to move forward to unblock negotiations which have lasted for almost twenty years.
An agreement on Mercosur was concluded in 2019, but several EU member states blocked it due to environmental and agricultural concernss. The EU has in fact committed to opening its markets by lowering customs duties on quotas of products such as beef, sugar and poultry from South America.
“The final political compromises will be discussed starting tomorrow,” a Commission spokesperson said on Thursday, confirming that Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič would also be present in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, where Mercosur countries are meeting. meet for two days.
In the final stretch of the negotiations, the Europeans were pushing for the introduction of environmental standards into the agreement as well as a commitment from Mercosur countries to the fight against deforestation.
Under pressure from its farmers, Paris has been opposing the finalization of the agreement for many months, while the Commission, pushed by Germany and Spain, has set itself the objective of concluding an agreement here the end of the year.
The European Commission has exclusive competence to negotiate trade agreements,” the Commission spokesperson said on Thursday, adding: “It does so on the basis of a mandate received by Member States, including France”.
Earlier this week, German socialist MEP Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said the “emotional situation in France” posed “a problem” for those seeking to finalize negotiations.
French political turmoil will not affect domestic opposition to the deal, which remains overwhelming. On November 26, 484 of the National Assembly’s 577 deputies voted in favor of a government statement condemning the proposed deal as “unacceptable.” The far-right and far-left parties who led the vote of no confidence causing the fall of the government of Michel Barnier Wednesday, are radically opposed to the agreement.
“Whatever happens, we are opposed to any new trade agreement,” a Commerce Ministry official in Paris told Euronews a few days ago.
If concluded, the agreement would have to be adopted by the 27 member states of the European Union. In recent weeks, France has tried to convince its partners to join it in a blocking minority in order to prevent the adoption of the agreement.
Poland has already announced that it will join the “anti-Mercosur” coalition. Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland are also being courted by France. The Italians’ position remains uncertain, as their Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, expressed concern on Wednesday about the situation of Italian farmers, while declaring that he supported the agreement. A blocking minority would require four member states representing at least 35% of the European population.
ADVERTISEMENTFaced with opposition from France, eleven EU member states sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen in September asking the Commission to move up a gear. Supporters of the agreement stressed the urgency of its conclusion at a time when other powers, such as China, “exert even greater influence on Latin American markets, both economically and politically.” .
