Brussels, December 18 (EFECOM). – The countries of the European Union (EU), due to the blockade by France and Italy, have ruled out voting on the trade agreement with Mercosur this Friday and plan to postpone it until January so that Rome can better study its contents. Therefore, the agreement will not be signed with its Latin American counterpart in Brazil this weekend as planned, diplomatic sources said.
Postponing the signing would be acceptable to Mercosur countries, it was said this Thursday, although Brazil, which holds the rotating presidency of the Latin American bloc, warned that “there will be no further agreement” if it is not signed this weekend.
A European source said Mercosur countries had been “informed” of the decision not to hold the vote tomorrow as originally planned. The vote in the Council of the European Union and the subsequent signing would take place “at the beginning of January”.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had told Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this Thursday that she was “ready” to sign the agreement “as soon as the necessary answers are given to farmers” and asked the Brazilian president “a few days” to decide whether he would support the pact given his country’s “political problems with farmers.”
The prerequisite for the trip of the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission to Brazil for the signing this Saturday was that the governments gave their consent by a qualified majority (55% of the countries represent 65% of the European population), which was almost impossible given the frontal rejection of France and the last doubts of Italy.
Mercosur is an economic bloc consisting of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, which Bolivia is currently joining. EFECOM
About The Author
