The proposal to close the free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur “is not acceptable” as it stands, declared this Thursday 17th the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.
“In its current state, it is not an acceptable treaty. We ask for respect for the Paris Agreements (on climate) and the protection of the interests of European industries and farmers,” said Macron, after an EU summit.
The free trade agreement between the two blocs began to be negotiated in 1999. In 2019, the parties announced the end of the negotiation phase and the signing of a Strategic Association agreement, but new obstacles emerged.
New European legislation, requiring environmental commitments, led to the reopening of some chapters of the text. The countries of the South American bloc also asked for updates to the agreement, which led to negotiations dragging on until today.
France became the main European opponent of the agreementconsidering that the document does not adequately protect EU farmers, especially French ones. The most recent round of technical discussions took place a week ago, in Brazil.
