US EditionItaly may not support EU-Mercosur free trade deal without changes
Italy and France demand stronger agricultural safeguards and reciprocity to protect farmers, risking delay of the EU-Mercosur deal that covers 780 million people, EU officials said.
- Italy signalled on Wednesday it might not back final approval of the EU-Mercosur deal, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni saying signing in the coming days would be premature.
- Under pressure from farmers, Italy faces political strain as Coldiretti opposes the deal while Confindustria supports it, with Meloni saying, `For us it is necessary to wait that the package of extra measures to protect the farm sector is perfected.`
- On December 15, the European Parliament approved amendments to speed investigations and set an import trigger of more than 8 percent per year.
- Italy's stance risks blocking the qualified majority of 15 of 27 EU states, needed to approve the deal, which could derail von der Leyen's planned signing, as Lula warned Brazil might abandon negotiations this month.
- If ratified, the deal would cover 780 million people and a quarter of global GDP, while farmers protesting in Brussels on December 18 and Friedrich Merz frame the political stakes.
66 Articles
66 Articles
EU forced to delay hated new plans after farmers stage extraordinary protest in Brussels
The European Union has delayed the signing of a divisive trade agreement with South American nations amid intense farmers' protests in Brussels.Both France and Italy have requested additional time to win over their agricultural sectors, seeing the bloc postpone the inking of the deal until the new year. This postponement has once again scuppered the EU’s plans to finalise the long-stalled Mercosur free trade accord. The agreement, which has been…
EU Delays Free-Trade Deal in Face of Farmers' Protests
The European Union is delaying a massive free-trade deal with South American countries after fiery protests by farmers and last-minute opposition by France and Italy threatened to derail the pact, seen by its backers as an important geopolitical move for both continents. Top EU officials had hoped to sign the...
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The EU delays free trade agreement with Mercosur, reports the European Commission.
The request for more protectionist guarantees for farmers by France and Italy causes the delay of the approval of the trade agreement to January The trade agreement of the European Union and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) will have to wait for January, after more than 25 years of negotiations.Although the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament had given the final approval to stronger safeguards that allo…
EU postpones Mercosur agreement: Italy's head of government Meloni is slowing down the deal at the last minute and forcing new timing.
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