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Brussels – The Secretary of State for the European Union, Fernando Sampedro, stressed this Tuesday from Brussels the “urgency” for the European Union to complete the process to adopt the free trade agreement negotiated with the Mercosur countries; a “vital” pact that he hopes can be signed before the end of the year despite the postponement requested by France.
“There have never been circumstances so favorable and that so clearly explain the urgency and the need to sign this agreement with Mercosur,” Sampedro declared to the press upon his arrival at a meeting of the European Union General Affairs Council.
Although he did not answer the question of whether he believes that a postponement of the signing could put an end to the agreement itself, as suggested from the Southern Cone, the Secretary of State insisted that in any case its adoption must be a “priority” for the European bloc.
“In this international context, the priority for the European Union as a whole to conclude this agreement is vital. So we hope that will be the case,” he hammered home.
Timeline to conclude the agreement
The European Commission itself warned on Monday through a spokesperson that the signing of the agreement with Mercosur is “vital” and expressed confidence that it can be signed before the end of the year. Brazil, which on Saturday will host a Mercosur summit, is working on the assumption that the parties could sign the text that same Saturday in a ceremony on the sidelines of the summit.
But this timeline is subject to the completion within the Council (governments) of the remaining steps for its adoption, which includes a vote that requires a qualified majority of the 27 to go ahead.
With the green light from the governments, the agreement could already enter into provisional application at the beginning of 2026, without waiting for the necessary opinion of the European Parliament for its final ratification, which will take longer.
The rotating presidency of the EU, held this semester by Denmark, maintains the objective of presenting this vote to the EU ambassadors this very week, but this first depends on the safeguards that the European Commission offered to compensate potentially more vulnerable farmers passing another vote, this Tuesday in the plenary of the European Parliament, so that the formal approval of this support by the Twenty-Seven is also possible.
If this first step is passed, the Member States and the European Parliament could agree on the final green light for these safeguards a day later and this would pave the way for the ambassadors of the 27 to adopt the decision that would allow the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, accompanied by the President of the European Council, António Costa, to travel to Brazil and sign the agreement in a ceremony on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Mercosur summit.
France’s rejection
France, which has traditionally been firmly opposed to the trade pact for fear of its impact on its agricultural sector and in recent years has also demanded greater requirements from Mercosur in the fight against deforestation and climate change, reiterated this weekend that it believes the “conditions are still not met” for the EU to give the green light and has called for a new postponement.
The French opposition clashes head-on with other countries such as Germany and Spain, which insist on the opportunity of a “critical” agreement for the European economy and essential in the new multilateral balances; while from the Southern Cone they warn that if this opportunity is missed they will not wait any longer and will seek equivalent agreements with other major world economies.
“France is asking for the deadlines to be delayed in order to continue working on obtaining legitimate protection measures for our European agriculture,” warned the French prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, in an official statement released on Sunday.
Even so, the government of Emmanuel Macron cannot by itself stop the adoption of the agreement, which depends solely on a qualified majority of partners (at least 15 countries representing 65% of the EU population) and so far has not managed to gather sufficient reservations to create a blocking minority, despite the reservations of Poland and Italy and the doubts of others such as Austria or Belgium’s obligation to abstain due to a lack of internal agreement on the country’s position.
Thus, the government of Giorgia Meloni may be decisive in tipping the balance of the qualified majority towards a blocking minority, and vice versa, but although months ago Rome signaled acceptance of the safeguards on the table, doubts are resurfacing in the face of farmers’ protests and in Brussels the question remains as to what its position will be if the vote is finally held this week, although diplomatic sources point to constant negotiations at all levels to resolve the latest transalpine demands.
All this, in a complex week for the European Union, with a massive demonstration by the agricultural sector from all the bloc’s countries called for next Thursday in Brussels to protest against the announced cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the next post-2027 budget. That same Thursday, moreover, the heads of state and government of the EU will meet at their traditional December summit in the same European capital, with Ukraine and the European budget as key items on their agenda. (16 December)