The European Comission (EC, executive body of the European Union) considered this Wednesday that the conditions that would allow the bloc to conclude a trade agreement with the Mercosursaid the executive vice president of the EC, Maros Sefcovic.
“The Commission’s assessment is that the conditions for the conclusion of the agreement with Mercosur are not met,” Sefcovic declared on Wednesday before the European Parliament. A Commission spokesman told Reuters that negotiations on the deal were nonetheless continuing.
The draft free trade agreement with the Mercosur has come under political scrutiny in recent weeks amid protests by farmers who say they are being harmed by cheap imports from countries that do not respect strict European environmental standards.
The European Union and the block formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, have been negotiating the pact for 25 years. In recent negotiations, the EU has demanded stricter guarantees regarding climate change and deforestation.
France has repeatedly expressed its reservations about the EU-Mercosur agreement and the president Emmanuel Macron He told Brussels last week that it would be impossible to conclude negotiations under current conditions.
With massive protests by French farmers and polls pointing to a far-right victory in June’s European Parliament elections, Macron is under pressure to calm farmers angry over rising costs and imports of cheap food.
The governments of each member country of the European Union and the European Parliament must approve any trade agreement reached by the Commission.
Source: Ambito
