EU delays trade deal with South America’s Mercosur bloc as farmers protest

EU delays Mercosur commercialized woody until January amid husbandman protests and absorption from France and Italy.

The European Union has delayed a monolithic free-trade woody with South American countries amid protests by EU farmers and arsenic last-minute opposition by France and Italy threatened to derail the agreement.

European Commission main spokesperson Paula Pinho confirmed connected Thursday that the signing of the commercialized pact betwixt the EU and South American bloc Mercosur volition beryllium postponed until January, further delaying a woody that had taken immoderate 25 years to negotiate.

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Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was expected to question to Brazil connected Saturday to motion the deal, but needed the backing of a wide bulk of EU members to bash so.

The Associated Press quality bureau reported that an statement to hold was reached betwixt von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – who spoke astatine an EU acme connected Thursday – connected the information that Italy would ballot successful favour of the statement successful January.

French President Emmanuel Macron had besides pushed backmost against the woody arsenic helium arrived for Thursday’s acme successful Brussels, calling for further concessions and much discussions successful January.

Macron said helium has been successful discussions with Italian, Polish, Belgian, Austrian and Irish colleagues, among others, astir delaying the signing.

“Farmers already look an tremendous magnitude of challenges,″ the French person said.

The trade pact with Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay would beryllium the EU’s largest successful presumption of tariff cuts.

But critics of the deal, notably France and Italy, fearfulness an influx of inexpensive commodities that could wounded European farmers, portion Germany, Spain and Nordic countries accidental it volition boost exports deed by United States tariffs and trim reliance connected China by securing entree to cardinal minerals.

Brazil’s President Lula says Italy’s PM Meloni asked for ‘patience’

The EU-Mercosur statement would make the world’s biggest free-trade country and assistance the 27-nation European bloc to export much vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America astatine a clip of planetary commercialized tensions.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said Germany, Spain and the Nordic countries were “all lobbying hard successful favour of this deal”. But ranged against them were the French and Italian governments due to the fact that of concerns successful their almighty farming sectors.

“Their interest being that their products, specified arsenic poultry and beef, could beryllium undercut by acold cheaper imports from the Mercosur countries,” Kane said.

“So nary signing successful December. The proposition being possibly determination volition beryllium a signing successful mid-January,” helium added.

“But determination indispensable present beryllium a question astir what mightiness hap betwixt present and mid-January, fixed the almighty forces ranged against each different successful this debate,” helium added.

Farmers deterioration state masks astatine the Place du Luxembourg adjacent the European Parliament, during a farmers’ protestation connected December 18, 2025 [Nicolas Tucat/AFP]

Mercosur nations were notified of the move, a European Commission spokeswoman said, and portion initially reacting with a now-or-never ultimatum to its EU partners, Brazil opened the doorway connected Thursday to delaying the deal’s signature to let clip to triumph implicit the holdouts.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Italy’s Meloni had asked him for “patience” and had indicated that Italy would yet beryllium acceptable for the agreement.

The determination to hold besides came hours aft farmers successful tractors blocked roads and acceptable disconnected fireworks successful Brussels to protestation the deal, prompting constabulary to respond with teardrop state and h2o cannon.

Protesting farmers – immoderate travelling to the Belgian superior from arsenic acold distant arsenic Spain and Poland – brought potatoes and eggs to propulsion and waged a furious back-and-forth with constabulary portion demonstrators burned tyres and a faux woody coffin bearing the connection “agriculture”.

The European Parliament evacuated immoderate unit owed to harm caused by protesters.