European Commission signed an agreement with Mercosur

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has signed a political agreement on a free trade area with the Common Market of South America – Mercosur.

“This agreement is not just an economic opportunity, it is a political necessity. We are like-minded partners. We believe that openness and cooperation are the true engines of progress and prosperity. I know that strong winds are blowing in the opposite direction: towards isolation and fragmentation. But this agreement is our clear response. We stand together on the world stage as partners,” the EC President said at a press conference in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo.

In its communiqué, the European Commission reported that the head of the EC held the final part of the negotiations on the EU-MERCOSUR agreement with the Presidents of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Argentina Javier Milei, Paraguay Santiago Peña and Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou.

According to the EC President, this agreement “will bring substantial benefits to consumers and businesses on both sides”.

She said: “We have listened to the concerns of our farmers and acted on them. This agreement includes strong safeguards to protect your livelihoods.”

According to her, the EU-MERCOSUR agreement is “the biggest ever when it comes to protecting EU food and drink”, it, von der Leyen claimed, “will allow EU companies to save 4 billion euros in export duties per year”.

In doing so, the EC President believes, the European Union and Mercosur are “creating one of the largest trade and investment partnerships the world has ever seen.” “We are removing barriers and unleashing investment. We are creating a market of more than 700 million consumers,” she said.

The agreement with Mercosur must be approved by the EU member states and passed by the European Parliament.

The agreement comes at a time when agricultural producers in a number of EU countries are very concerned about the expected influx of cheap, duty-free agricultural products from South America.

Among the EU countries that were particularly strongly opposed to the agreement with Mercosur was France. The day before, President Emmanuel Macron said that such an agreement in its current form was unacceptable for the French agri-food sector. The French press did not fail to note that von der Leyen timed her visit to Uruguay to coincide with the days of the government crisis in France, when the Cabinet of Michel Barnier was dismissed as a result of a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly.

Such large agricultural producing countries as Italy and Poland are also against the free trade zone with Mercosur. Farmers in Belgium and the Netherlands continue to protest against the agreement.

Major agricultural producing countries such as Italy and Poland are also against the free trade area with Mercosur. Agricultural producers in Belgium and the Netherlands continue to protest against the agreement.

Tags: Brazil, EU, Argentina