European Union countries opposed to a trade agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur will not be able to prevent its adoption, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference, Tusk acknowledged that without France’s support, opponents cannot form a blocking minority against the deal.
“We agreed that since the French do not want to join us in creating this blocking minority, they should at least prepare a defence mechanism,” Tusk said.
The Polish leader pointed out that alternative strategies are being developed to address the potential negative consequences of the agreement. He stressed that protective measures must be in place if problems arise.
“This means that if any negative signals appear… the European Commission must immediately introduce protective mechanisms, i.e. restore tariffs,” Tusk explained.
When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the agreement in Montevideo, Uruguay with the bloc uniting the major economies of South America last December, it was not met with enthusiasm throughout the EU.
French President Emmanuel Macron opposed it, expressing farmers’ concerns that cheap beef and poultry would flood into Europe from Brazil and Argentina. Poland and Italy supported these concerns.
The European Commission has informed Mercosur countries that it will propose a workaround to meet the demands of opponents of the agreement, which will protect European farmers. This will be an internal EU mechanism, and the parties will not have to revise the long-awaited agreement.
The EU Executive Committee hopes that US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policy will convince sceptical governments to support the agreement and expand trade relations with South America.
However, farmers, lawmakers and non-governmental organisations are stepping up their opposition to the EU-Mercosur agreement, and a new wave of protests is possible today, not only in Brussels but across Europe.
The EU executive is also expected to announce whether it intends to separate the trade provisions from the broader agreement, bypassing the need for ratification in all 27 national parliaments, meaning that ratification would only take place within the European Parliament.
As an exclusive competence of the EU, this will require a simple majority in the European Parliament and the support of 15 Member States in the Council, representing 65% of the Union’s population.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of the party Debout la France (France Arise), criticised the adoption of the Mercosur agreement on X:
“New BETRAYAL: the Mercosur agreement adopted on Wednesday, September 3. Brussels is preparing to sacrifice our farmers with a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. An invasion of South American meat, a lowering of standards, the destruction of our land: this is the end of French agriculture!”
