EU‑Mercosur trade deal: Von der Leyen pushes for finalization
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, anticipates the completion of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. However, the agreement faces vocal opposition from countries such as France and Poland.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is optimistic about the agreement developed by the EU and South American countries. "The finish line of the EU-Mercosur agreement is in sight. Let’s work, let’s cross it. We have the chance to create a market of 700 million people," she wrote on Thursday on the X platform.
In the rest of her post, von der Leyen emphasized that it is about "the largest trade and investment partnership the world has ever seen," from which "both regions will benefit."
The head of the EC supports the agreement with Mercosur
This concerns the free trade agreement between the EU and the countries of the Mercosur group, namely Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Uruguay, which has been under negotiation for over 20 years. In 2019, a political agreement was reached, but it has yet to be signed. In Europe, it faces opposition from France and Poland. Farmers in both countries argue that the agreement would lead to an influx of cheap agricultural products from South America, which—without meeting EU standards—would displace domestic goods.
EC trade spokesperson Olof Gill admitted during a Thursday press briefing in Brussels that, in addition to the head of the European Commission, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will also meet with the leaders of the Mercosur countries in Montevideo. “"I hope that this agreement, which I'm sure we will discuss at greater length today, could be concluded on very, very fair grounds,” the spokesperson said.
Agreement options from Brussels' perspective
The European Commission may propose the signing of the trade part of the agreement only at the EU level. In this case, for the agreement to be accepted, it must receive the support of a qualified majority, meaning 15 out of 27 member states, representing at least 65% of the EU population. The EC may also present countries with a broader version of the agreement, the so-called mixed version, which—besides the trade part—will include political declarations. National parliaments would have to express their consent for this. However, it is rumored in Brussels corridors that the EC would be reluctant toward this solution.
The Élysée Palace announced on X shortly after the European Commission President's post that Paris would not accept the agreement with Mercosur in its current form, and President Macron had already informed von der Leyen of this on Thursday. The problem is that even with potential support from Poland and several other EU countries—since Austria, Luxembourg, Greece, and the Netherlands are also expected to oppose the agreement—France does not have the required majority to block the agreement.
In Brussels, there is speculation that von der Leyen has decided to leverage the political crisis in France, which is the loudest critic of the agreement, to quickly conclude the negotiations. The Commission rejects these allegations, asserting that the EC has exclusive competence to negotiate trade agreements with global partners but does so based on a mandate granted by all member states.
