To France also arises Italy against the EU Commission’s plan this weekend the trade agreement between the EU and the South American confederation Mercosur, which has been planned for decades to sign. A quick conclusion would be “premature,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Italian Parliament. Meloni cited concern for domestic agriculture as the reason for her rejection: “We believe it is necessary to wait for the completion of the package of complementary measures to protect the agricultural sector,” said Meloni. These would then have to be “explained and discussed with our farmers”.
Five South American countries currently belong to Mercosur, including Brazil and Argentina. The talks about a trade agreement between the EU and these countries began at the end of the 1990s. The agreement has now been fully negotiated. With 32 countries home to 720 million people and accounting for 20 percent of the global economy and nearly a third of all global goods exports, it would create the largest free trade area in the world.
France and Italy are calling for more protection for EU farmers
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to sign the agreement in Brazil next weekend. To do this, however, it needs the approval of the EU Council. Germany, Spain and several other countries are calling for the agreement to be concluded quickly. France However, he rejects this, citing protests from farmers. Without Italy’s consent, there is unlikely to be a majority in the EU Council to conclude the agreement.
“The Italian government has always made it clear that the agreement must be beneficial for all sectors and it is therefore necessary to take into account in particular the concerns of our farmers,” said Meloni in Parliament. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu also called for it on Mondayto postpone the deadline for signing the agreement in order to “achieve legitimate protection measures for our European agriculture”. In France there have been repeated violent protests in recent years from farmers who fear disadvantages from competition from South America.
Germany wants to convince France and Italy
The EU Parliament had already spoken out on Tuesday in favor of stricter controls on the import of agricultural products as part of the agreement. However, Meloni’s right-wing nationalist party Fratelli d’Italia does not believe this is sufficient. Meloni emphasized that she did not want to fundamentally block the agreement: “I am very confident that all of these conditions can be met at the beginning of next year,” she said.
Until then, Germany in particular is likely to try to get France and Italy to give in, for example at the EU summit of heads of state and government in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) will work on to convince the doubtersannounced government spokesman Stefan Kornelius. It is still the federal government’s goal to sign the agreement by the end of the year. It would also be a signal of the EU’s ability to act, said Kornelius.
