German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stood alongside Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Hanover on Sunday to celebrate what both men cast as a milestone for open trade – the long-awaited agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc.
Opening a major industrial trade fair, Merz praised Brazil as a strategic partner in an increasingly fragmented world, while Lula framed the pact as a clear answer to rising protectionism.
“Faced with unilateralism, Mercosur and the European Union have chosen cooperation,” he said, in a swipe at tariff-heavy policies elsewhere.
Posting on X, Merz wrote: "Germany and Brazil are connected by a strong partnership: close trade, trust, and commitment to a rules-based order. We are deepening that – for our countries, companies, and citizens."
Their remarks came as Brussels confirmed in March that the EU-Mercosur agreement will take provisional effect from 1 May, capping more than 25 years of negotiations and linking a market of over 700 million people accounting for roughly 25 percent of global GDP.
The European Commission has pushed ahead despite legal uncertainty – and vocal opposition from France – choosing to provisionally enact the deal while it faces scrutiny before the EU’s top court.
EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said the focus now was on delivering “concrete outcomes” for exporters, while Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has cast the agreement as essential for Europe’s resilience in a more volatile global economy.
EU countries green-light Mercosur trade deal despite France's opposition
A tale of two Europes
The deal has exposed a familiar divide within the EU. Germany has long championed closer ties with Mercosur – comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – seeing the agreement as a way to unlock new export markets and reduce reliance on both the United States and China.
Merz argued the pact would make participating economies “stronger, more independent and more resilient”, reflecting Berlin’s broader push to revive its industrial base through expanded trade.
France, however, has emerged as one of the most vocal opponents. President Emmanuel Macron has criticised the Commission’s decision to press ahead with provisional implementation as “a bad surprise”, aligning himself with a powerful domestic constituency: farmers.
French agricultural groups fear the deal will open the floodgates to cheaper imports – particularly beef, poultry and sugar – produced under standards they argue do not match those imposed within the EU. Their concerns, amplified by sustained protests in recent months, have made the issue politically combustible in Paris.
Hundreds of tractors roll into Paris as farmers protest EU-Mercosur trade deal
Farmers dig in
The resistance has not eased. If anything, it has broadened into a wider backlash against EU trade policy.
At the end of March, France’s leading farm unions – the FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs alliance – launched a scathing attack on a separate EU-Australia trade agreement, denouncing it as “deeply asymmetrical and devastating for French and European agriculture”.
They accused the European Commission of “persisting with its policy of dismantling our agricultural production system”, warning that the deal would allow in products that fail to meet European standards.
They labelled the agreement with Canberra “Mercosur 2.0” – a sign that opposition to the South American pact has become a rallying cry for broader discontent.
The Confederation Paysanne, France’s third-largest farmers’ union, has gone further still, calling for mobilisation and accusing Brussels of an “undemocratic power grab” after it chose to provisionally apply the Mercosur deal while awaiting a court ruling.
Meanwhile, French ministers have struck a more measured tone, highlighting potential gains for sectors such as wine, dairy and agri-food, as well as improved access to critical minerals from partners like Australia.
But even within the French government, there is an acknowledgement of “agricultural sensitivities” – particularly around meat and sugar – and a pledge to remain vigilant.
(With newswires)
