Loathed by farmersEU countries override France to greenlight Mercosur trade deal

AFP

The EU is expected Friday to give a long-delayed go ahead to a huge trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur championed by business groups but loathed by many European farmers.

Update: 09.01.2026 21:30

Farmers in France and several other European countries protested the deal

The EU gave a long-delayed go-ahead Friday to a huge trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur championed by business groups but loathed by many European farmers -- overriding opposition led by key power France.

Most of the European Union’s 27 nations backed the pact following an ambassadors’ meeting in Brussels, paving the way for it to be signed later this month in Paraguay.

More than 25 years in the making, supporters see the deal as crucial to boost exports, support the continent’s ailing economy and foster diplomatic ties at a time of global uncertainty.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called it “proof that Europe charts its own course and stands as a reliable partner”. She said she looked forward to the signing -- which Argentina said was planned January 17.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the deal sent “an important signal of our strategic sovereignty and capacity to act”, a message echoed by Spain, which said it would “forge shared prosperity” with Latin America.

On the Mercosur side, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed “a historic day for multilateralism”.

And Paraguay’s foreign minister, one of the four founding members of Mercosur, along with Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, defended the deal as “balanced”.

But the European Commission, which negotiated the text, failed to win over all of the bloc’s member states.

In Milan, Italian farmers emptied milk tankers on to the streets in protest

Heavyweight France, where politicians across the divide are up in arms against a deal attacked as an assault on the country’s influential farming sector, led an ultimately unsuccessful push to sink it.

Ireland, Poland, Hungary and Austria also voted against the accord.

That was not enough to block it, however, after holdout Italy ultimately threw its weight behind the pact.

- ‘Economic clout’ -

The deal will create a vast market of more than 700 million people, making it one of the world’s largest free trade areas.

Farmers in France and beyond fear being undercut by cheaper products

Part of a broader push to diversify trade in the face of US tariffs, it will bring the 27-nation EU closer together with Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, removing import tariffs on more than 90 percent of products.

This will save EU businesses four billion euros ($4.6 billion) worth of duties per year and help exports of vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, according to the EU.

It will also help the bloc reduce its dependency on China for critical raw materials, said Agathe Demarais, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.

“The conclusion of the EU-Mercosur trade deal is great news for Europe’s global geopolitical and economic clout,” she said.

Germany, Spain and other backers believe the deal will provide a welcome boost to their industries hampered by Chinese competition and tariffs in the United States.

Belgian farmers staged their own protests

But France and other critics opposed it over concerns that their farmers would be undercut by a flow of cheaper goods, including meat, sugar, rice, honey and soybean, from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard argued that it was “not the end of the story”, as the European Parliament had still to vote on the deal.

With the deal still requiring approval from the European Parliament, France has warned against any attempt to bring it into force before then.

- ‘Pain’ vs ‘benefits’ -

Farmers in several European countries mounted a final show of anger against the text’s approval, marching in protest in Warsaw and blocking roads in France and Belgium.

Polish farmers and their supporters also protested

“There is a lot of pain,” Judy Peeters, a representative for a Belgian young farmers group told AFP at a protest on a motorway south of Brussels. “There is a lot of anger.”

Over the past months, the commission has been at pains to reassure farmers and their backers that pros outweigh cons.

It has stressed that the accord is expected to boost EU agri-food exports to South America by 50 percent, in part by protecting more than 340 iconic European products -- from Greek feta to French champagne -- from local imitations.

It also laid out plans to set up a 6.3 billion-euro crisis fund and safeguards allowing for the suspension of preferential tariffs on agricultural products in case of a damaging surge in imports.

The latter were tightened further at the last minute by member states lowering the threshold for action, a late concession to Italy.

But Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended an agreement she hoped would “bring benefits in many areas” and “for everyone”.

burs-jj/