The Fort Worth Press - New push for EU-South America trade deal despite French fury

USD -
AED 3.673005
AFN 68.386442
ALL 93.021933
AMD 389.349314
ANG 1.803734
AOA 913.000031
ARS 1002.721397
AUD 1.53358
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.702057
BAM 1.854577
BBD 2.020785
BDT 119.602116
BGN 1.858799
BHD 0.376916
BIF 2956.030306
BMD 1
BND 1.344124
BOB 6.930721
BRL 5.790848
BSD 1.000863
BTN 84.433613
BWP 13.672612
BYN 3.275301
BYR 19600
BZD 2.017372
CAD 1.39639
CDF 2864.999911
CHF 0.88374
CLF 0.035265
CLP 973.069559
CNY 7.241401
CNH 7.24719
COP 4396.59
CRC 508.251983
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.558213
CZK 24.0877
DJF 178.22092
DKK 7.087555
DOP 60.364405
DZD 133.750861
EGP 49.678296
ERN 15
ETB 124.782215
EUR 0.950275
FJD 2.269701
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.791103
GEL 2.740301
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.887842
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000247
GNF 8627.008472
GTQ 7.726299
GYD 209.391416
HKD 7.782965
HNL 25.291226
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.472895
HUF 390.756993
IDR 15903.25
ILS 3.732285
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.493503
IQD 1311.043259
IRR 42092.505939
ISK 138.290123
JEP 0.789317
JMD 158.639851
JOD 0.709302
JPY 154.656495
KES 129.249619
KGS 86.506766
KHR 4038.536303
KMF 467.499881
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1398.125025
KWD 0.30759
KYD 0.834076
KZT 497.17423
LAK 21976.521459
LBP 89633.50686
LKR 291.187013
LRD 181.150969
LSL 18.152914
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.883414
MAD 9.998293
MDL 18.214834
MGA 4685.233124
MKD 58.48862
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.024142
MRU 39.785889
MUR 46.412517
MVR 15.460006
MWK 1735.461174
MXN 20.325297
MYR 4.464971
MZN 63.950307
NAD 18.152914
NGN 1680.590024
NIO 36.829479
NOK 11.03348
NPR 135.09167
NZD 1.703345
OMR 0.385001
PAB 1.000778
PEN 3.7981
PGK 4.029035
PHP 59.039501
PKR 278.226704
PLN 4.126669
PYG 7838.117183
QAR 3.649699
RON 4.729799
RSD 111.205995
RUB 101.000437
RWF 1380.157217
SAR 3.754257
SBD 8.355531
SCR 13.619994
SDG 601.497088
SEK 11.030315
SGD 1.343699
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.575045
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.975839
SRD 35.43028
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.757041
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.142596
THB 34.647019
TJS 10.658746
TMT 3.5
TND 3.159078
TOP 2.342102
TRY 34.465475
TTD 6.776157
TWD 32.567494
TZS 2652.359028
UAH 41.269214
UGX 3693.413492
UYU 42.784805
UZS 12854.406494
VES 46.433371
VND 25422.5
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 622.001915
XAG 0.032192
XAU 0.000375
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.761528
XOF 622.001915
XPF 113.087675
YER 249.924998
ZAR 18.116198
ZMK 9001.198706
ZMW 27.697968
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    -0.0450

    24.52

    -0.18%

  • SCS

    -0.0200

    13.07

    -0.15%

  • BCC

    -0.7700

    137.41

    -0.56%

  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • CMSD

    -0.0836

    24.26

    -0.34%

  • RIO

    -0.0400

    62.39

    -0.06%

  • BCE

    -0.3100

    27

    -1.15%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0800

    6.61

    -1.21%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.23

    -0.23%

  • VOD

    0.0200

    8.94

    +0.22%

  • NGG

    -0.3100

    63.27

    -0.49%

  • GSK

    -0.1100

    33.35

    -0.33%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    37.08

    +0.4%

  • RELX

    -0.1800

    45.11

    -0.4%

  • BP

    -0.0100

    29.08

    -0.03%

  • AZN

    -0.6000

    63.2

    -0.95%

New push for EU-South America trade deal despite French fury
New push for EU-South America trade deal despite French fury / Photo: © AFP/File

New push for EU-South America trade deal despite French fury

A controversial trade deal between the EU and South America's Mercosur bloc is back in the spotlight with rekindled optimism that the two sides could conclude an agreement before the year is over.

Text size:

The blockbuster trade pact between the 27-country European Union and Mercosur countries -- Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- has been 25 years in the making and would create the world's biggest free trade zone.

The contours of a deal were agreed in 2019 but some EU states blocked its ratification over environmental concerns.

Key opponent France is still trying to stop it in its tracks -- with angry farmers planning protests from Wednesday in Paris and Brussels against an accord they fear will flood the bloc with cheaper agricultural goods.

But officials point to a real push inside the European Commission, in charge of EU trade policy, to get a Mercosur deal over the line despite French opposition.

The agreement's biggest European supporters, including Spain and Germany, believe it can be struck before year end, and South American officials were also optimistic.

"I see that both blocs are very interested in completing the remaining parts of the agreement," said Argentina's international economic relations secretary, Marcelo Cima.

"I understand that there is still some work to do to be able to finish, but there is a very good atmosphere," Cima told AFP.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pointed last month to two key meetings as a chance to move things forward: the G20 summit in Brazil on November 18-19, and a Mercosur gathering in Montevideo in December.

"We are very close to concluding this agreement," Sanchez said.

European officials and diplomats dismissed the likelihood of a deal at the G20 talks, calling it "premature" and "very hypothetical".

But German leader Olaf Scholz has also urged negotiations to "be finalised quickly".

- French resistance -

For many, the latest speculation will feel like deja vu.

In December last year, both sides wanted to put the final seal on the deal but it fell at the last hurdle over the EU's environmental demands.

Some member states, including France, were especially concerned about deforestation in the Amazon, and wanted commitments to ensure its protection.

France's President Emmanuel Macron reiterated following an EU summit in October that the "Mercosur deal, as it stands, is not acceptable" and that France sought stronger commitments including on the climate and protections for European farmers.

Still one of the biggest obstacles to any agreement, France is seeking to form a blocking minority -- requiring four member states under EU rules -- although its ability to do so is unclear.

The country's Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said Paris was "actively working" to persuade "Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Ireland, maybe Italy" to use their veto against it.

But while some countries including Austria have in the past criticised the pact, others such as Ireland and the Netherlands want to judge the latest deal before taking any formal position.

- Farmers' beef -

The pact has provoked farmers' ire because they fear any agreement would open European markets to cheaper meat and produce that are not forced to adhere to strict rules on pesticides, hormones, land use and environmental measures.

Pan-European farmers' group Copa-Cogeca and other European agricultural organisations last week raised concerns about Brazil's "persistent issues in meeting European food safety standards" as they urged policymakers to reassess the agreement.

There was an attempt to appease farmers with talk of giving cash to those negatively impacted but that was given short shrift by the industry.

"For our sectors, this appears more like a fake quick fix rather than a genuine solution," different groups including Copa-Cogeca said in a separate joint statement.

On the South American side, one contentious issue was an EU anti-deforestation law that would ban importing goods such as beef and coffee produced on deforested land -- but the EU is delaying those rules for one year to give more time for preparation.

The difficulties getting the deal done have led to some calling for change over how the EU negotiates trade agreements, including Germany's Scholz.

"They must succeed more quickly and they must also be less dependent on individual member states," he said, in what appeared to be a dig at France.

In Brussels, meanwhile, the EU's designated top diplomat Kaja Kallas voiced support for the deal with Mercosur during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, warning that unless the bloc goes ahead "this void will be really filled by China".

burs-raz/ec/db/tym

S.Jordan--TFWP