A majority of the European Union's 27 members on Friday approved a long-negotiated deal that paves the way for a vast free trade bloc across Europe and Latin America. The Mercosur agreement – the biggest the EU has ever agreed – continues to face fierce opposition from France and a handful of other countries, and cannot come into force without the final say of the European Parliament.
A qualified majority of member states – at least 15 countries representing 65 percent of the EU’s population – backed the deal at a meeting in Brussels on Friday.
France, Ireland, Austria and Poland are understood to be among the countries that voted against it.
The result clears EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to sign the accord with Mercosur, the South American bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The European Parliament must give its consent, however, before the deal can enter into force.
French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard has already pledged to push for rejection in the Parliament, where the vote could be tight.
€4bn deal
If approved, the deal would be the EU’s largest trade agreement in terms of tariff reductions, cutting around €4 billion in duties on EU exports.
The European Commission wrapped up two decades of negotiations a year ago, arguing the pact is central to the EU’s efforts to unlock new markets, offset business lost to US tariffs and reduce reliance on China by securing access to critical minerals.
Backers such as Germany and Spain see it as a strategic boost at a time of economic uncertainty.
France has emerged as the deal’s most vocal opponent. As the EU’s largest agricultural producer, Paris fears an influx of cheaper South American food – notably beef, poultry and sugar – produced to standards farmers say fall short of those imposed at home.
Environmental groups have also lined up against the pact, with Friends of the Earth branding it “climate-wrecking”.
To woo sceptics, Brussels has offered safeguards, including the ability to suspend imports of sensitive agricultural products, tighter controls on pesticide residues, a crisis fund, faster support for farmers and a pledge to cut import duties on fertilisers.
EU offers farmers extra funds to quell anger over Mercosur deal
Tractors, blockades
Protests have flared across France against the deal, with farmers blockading roads on Thursday and Friday.
Before dawn on Friday, farmers from the Confédération Paysanne union drove tractors onto the Paris ring road, briefly blocking traffic as they chanted “No! No! No to Mercosur!”
The previous day, another union, Coordination Rurale, steered tractors towards the Arc de Triomphe and the National Assembly.
Environmental activists and agricultural students also joined the protests.
France tightens checks on food imports amid farmers' opposition to Mercosur
The disruption has spread beyond Paris. Motorways linking northern France to Belgium were closed on Thursday evening, with roadblocks reported in Burgundy, Lozère, Tarn and the Basque Country.
Farmers have also continued to block access to a fuel depot in Bordeaux.
Protests are also planned in Belgium and Poland, marking a third consecutive winter of farmer unrest across Europe.
(with newswires)
