EU chief in Uruguay for final talks on a huge trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Uruguay for the final stages in years-long negotiations to clinch a trade deal between the 27-nation EU and the South American Mercosur trade bloc that would create a trans-Atlantic mark...
BRUSSELS — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Uruguay Thursday for the final stages in years-long negotiations to clinch a trade deal between the 27-nation EU and the South American Mercosur trade bloc that would create a trans-Atlantic market of some 700 million people.
“The finish line of the EU-Mercosur agreement is in sight. Let’s work, let’s cross it,” von der Leyen said Thursday, sidestepping objections from some EU member states like France and protests by farmers across the bloc.
French President Emmanuel Macron, mindful of his country's vocal and politically powerful farming community, has described what was on the table as «unacceptable.” If the deal with the South American bloc — comprising of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia — goes ahead, EU producers would have to compete with South American agricultural exports such as beef, poultry and sugar.
“We will continue to steadfastly defend our agricultural independence,” Macron said Thursday.
Because the EU Commission negotiates trade agreements for all 27 member states, von der Leyen could go ahead with a provisional deal this weekend at the Mercosur summit in Uruguay, only to see it flounder because one or more members states refuse to sign up to it.
A draft deal was announced in 2019, but disagreements over environmental, economic and political issues have delaying its final approval until now.
If the final differences are bridged, the EU-Mercosur deal would
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