Although they are a minority, the French Emmanuel Macron succeeded this Thursday in forcing a further delay in the signing thanks to an alliance of convenience with the Italian Giorgia Meloni. It is thus imposed on Pedro Sanchez and in German Frédéric Merzmain promoters of the agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
At Thursday’s European Council dinner in Brussels, von der Leyen informed leaders that his intention remains sign the agreement during the month of Januaryeven if no new date has been set, as reported by diplomatic sources.
However, this new postponement could mean the final blow that would bury the agreement with Mercosur. Although Meloni promised the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvawho is ready to sign him soon if he gets additional guarantees, the French are not in such a hurry.
“We don’t know if this will be resolved in a month or in ten years,” diplomatic sources say. In addition, the postponement was decided after a day of protests in Brussels by European farmers, who complain about the reduction in aid from the common agricultural policy, but also from Mercosur.
Last weekend, the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornuhas already asked to postpone the signing until 2026. Emmanuel Macron He has always opposed the agreement with Mercosur to protect its meat industry, but to achieve a blocking minority he needs the support of Meloni, who had maintained calculated ambiguity.
In the last days and hours, Macron worked hard to attract Meloniand at the same time keep on its side the rest of the member states opposed to the agreement with Mercosur: Poland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Ireland, explain the sources consulted.
Macron and Meloni spoke with Lula da Silva, who holds the interim presidency of Mercosur until January 15, to inform him that there will be no signing. The Brazilian president, who had threatened to leave the table permanently in the face of the EU’s snubs, was more conciliatory this time.
French President Emmanuel Macron during the meeting this Thursday in Brussels
“The Italian government is ready to sign the agreement as soon as the necessary answers are provided to farmers, who depend on the decisions of the European Commission and can be set over short periods” Meloni explained in a statement, in which he does not specify exactly what he is asking.
The French president was much more forceful in his rejection of Mercosur. “I want to say here to our farmers who are expressing what has been France’s clear position from the start. In relation to Mercosur, we consider that this is not the case and that this agreement cannot be signed“, he stressed.
“It is a question of European coherence, of a Europe that protects its agriculture and its producers. We are in favor of trade: France is also a major agricultural and agri-food power which trades throughout the world and exports. But we cannot agree to sacrifice the coherence of our agriculture and our food, nor the food security of our compatriots, in agreements which have not yet been concluded,” argues Macron.
Contrary to the French president’s activism to overturn the agreement, Sánchez didn’t even speak with Meloni to try to save it, as he himself explained when he arrived at the European Council.
Of course, the President of the Government defended that the agreement with Mercosur is essential “for Europe to gain geoeconomic and geopolitical weight at a time when it is being questioned by clear adversaries like Putin or even by traditional allies like the American administration”.
“It would be very frustrating if Europe does not reach an agreement with Mercosur once we have managed to approve these safeguard clauses for the European primary sector in the European Parliament and everything is ready. In addition, the presidency of Mercosur and the government of Brazil have prepared everything so that this can be ratified,” Sánchez insisted before learning of the postponement.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz also demanded the signing of the agreement with Mercosur and ultimately lost his bet. “It is worth remembering: negotiations have been going on for 25 years. The time has come to make a decision,” he declared upon his arrival at the European Council.
“If the European Union wants to remain credible in global trade policynow a decision must be made, and that decision can only be that Europe gives its approval and that the President of the Commission and the President of the Council go to South America tomorrow to sign the agreement,” Merz said.
In the end Von der Leyen will have to unpack his suitcase without traveling. In Brussels, there are also fears that the Mercosur countries will tire of waiting and ignore the agreement with the EU. Especially when Lula da Silva leaves the current presidency, because the rest of the countries do not support this pact as much.
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