Agreement with Mercosur in Italian. France and Italy want the vote postponed

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed that there is a need to postpone the final vote in the European Parliament on the trade agreement with Mercosur, Reuters reported on Monday, citing two sources familiar with the talks.

As Reuters reported, France is trying to build a blocking minority of member states that oppose the agreement negotiated by the European Commission.

The EC hopes that the agreement will be signed at the Mercosur summit on December 20 in Brazil. Before this happens, the agreement is to be put to a vote in the European Parliament this week. France, as well as Poland, are the most critical of the agreement, but four countries (the so-called blocking minority) are needed to block the agreement.

The agreement with the Mercosur bloc of countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay) will establish tariff preferences for certain agricultural products from these countries, such as beef, poultry, dairy, sugar and ethanol. Last Wednesday (December 10), France announced that it was still waiting for a response to its three demands regarding this agreement. It's about security mechanisms, controls and symmetrical actions.

The safeguard mechanisms would ensure that preferences for Mercosur products can be withdrawn if there is a sharp increase in imports or a drop in prices. Paris is also demanding more effective controls to ensure imported products meet European standards. France also wants symmetrical steps to ensure that pesticides not allowed in the EU will also be banned in products from the Mercosur bloc countries. (PAP)

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