Mercosur may agree on a long-awaited deal with the EU this week

The South American trade bloc Mercosur will meet today in Uruguay, after which it may announce a long-delayed trade agreement with the European Union, Reuters reports.

Uruguay’s president is scheduled to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the presidential residence in Montevideo on Thursday, a positive signal for trade talks.

The agreement, which is supported by most South American countries and promoted by Germany and Spain, has met with strong resistance from France over concerns about agricultural imports to Europe that would hit the country’s powerful agricultural sector.

Negotiators met in Brazil last week with plans for delegations to travel to Montevideo if a deal is struck during virtual talks that continue this week.

The trade agreement, which has been more than 20 years in the making, has been delayed by European concerns about competition among agricultural producers, while Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, major producers of soybeans, corn and beef, have criticized European protectionism.

However, last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that the agreement is being discussed directly with von der Leyen. He is confident that it will be finalized this year.

In November, European farmers protested against the deal in Brussels. They claimed that the agreement with the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, would create unfair competition for them and food producers in the European Union. According to them, the agreement will allow them to import large volumes of products that are not subject to the same strict rules they face in the EU.

Tags: Brazil, EU, Argentina