EU-Mercosur Agreement. “France demands that the December dates be postponed”

The French government said on Sunday that it had asked the European Union to postpone December deadlines for a trade deal with the Mercosur bloc. In Paris's opinion, there are currently no conditions for a vote by EU countries on this agreement to take place.

“France requests that the December deadlines be postponed in order to continue work and obtain legitimate means of protecting European agriculture,” the government said in a statement.

The European Commission 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 next 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.

French Economy Minister Roland Lescure told German media on Sunday that his country considers “the agreement in its current form is unacceptable.”

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, 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The safeguard mechanisms would ensure that preferences for Mercosur products can be withdrawn if there is a sharp increase in imports or a drop in prices.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.

From Paris Anna Wróbel (PAP)

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