It has been twenty-five years since the European Union (EU) and four Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) tried to reach a free trade agreement that would create a market of 750 million people. Several times they thought they had achieved their goal, but each time they had to give up in the final stretch. What will happen at the end of the year, when the European Commission hopes to initial the contents of the treaty agreed with the South American countries in December 2024 on Saturday, December 20?
If member states give her the mandate in the coming days, the president of the community council, Ursula von der Leyen, plans to fly this weekend to Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, where a Mercosur summit will be held on Saturday. But now in France the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, suddenly asked for one “postponement of the examination of the agreement”the Elysée announced on Sunday, December 14.
The topic of a free trade deal with Mercosur has always been a thorny one in France, where part of the agricultural world is categorically against it, as is almost the entire political spectrum. The industry, which could benefit from it given the export opportunities it would offer, certainly defends it, but mezzo vocce. In this context, the epidemic of contagious lumpy dermatosis, the uncertainties about the 2026 budget and the prospect of municipal elections in March 2026 convinced the head of state to put his foot on the brake.
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