Amidst massive farmer protests in Brussels and clashes with police against the European Union’s trade agreement with Mercosur countries, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has decided not to go forward with signing the agreement, cancelling her trip to Brazil, where she was expected.
The EU parliament voted on a “strengthened safeguard clause” to the European Union’s trade agreement with Mercosur member states, intended to allow the European Community to react more quickly in the event of problems arising from imports from South American countries.
However, the clause leaves the agreement intact, which is bad news for many farmers across the EU, although beneficial for Germany, as Mercosur is its 10th biggest trade partner outside the EU and this deal will be a boost for German exports and jobs.
Von der Leyen is saying she will head to Brazil in January, although one EU diplomat quoted by wPolityce says that what is really needed before the Mercosur deal is signed is getting Italy on board.
According to the portal, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke Thursday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will host Saturday’s Mercosur summit. Da Silva reported that Meloni told him she supported the deal but asked for patience to secure domestic support, i.e., support from Italian farmers. She also reportedly told him she was certain she would have this within the month.
Denmark, which holds the current EU presidency, is pushing for the agreement to be signed and had hoped von der Leyen could make the trip to Brazil to do so.
Meanwhile, Lula threatened that if the EU-Mercosur agreement was not finalized this month, Brazil would not sign it, and any concessions it was willing to make had already been made.
Poland and France are also opposed to the deal, and together with Italy, they could effectively block its approval. The Polish government has promised to engage in building a minority that can block the deal, reports Do Rzeczy.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has repeatedly asserted that his government opposes the EU-Mercosur agreement, and yet, he has also said that blocking it would be “very difficult,” adding that Poland has worked hard to “push through some positive measures from the perspective of Polish farmers and Polish producers.”
By all appearances, he is looking to keep the door open to passing the trade deal, especially if Poland is needed to get the deal over the finish line.
“I discussed this today with Prime Minister Meloni and President Macron, about how we can proceed together,” Tusk announced in a major push for the present deal.
“If the version we currently have on the table, the Mercosur version, is adopted, it will be largely safe from the perspective of Polish farmers, but also Polish consumers. We’re talking about the use of pesticides and increased controls by the European Union. So the efforts – including those of the Polish People’s Party, I must emphasize this very strongly – have brought the desired result,” Tusk told press.
“We try to act wisely. We look for ways to block bad legislation when we don’t have a majority on a given issue. At least we fix the project so it doesn’t pose a threat to Poland. And here I can congratulate everyone involved – it’s not perfect, but it’s not bad,” Tusk said.
