by Aleksandra Krzysztoszek
As an EU-Mercosur deal was reached after 25 years, it faces one last stumbling block: member state approval and Poland hopes Italy will play a part in blocking the deal.
Negotiations on the international trade deal started in 1999 between the European Union and the Mercosur states, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uraguay and, as of 2024, Bolivia.
On Friday, it was finally signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on behalf of the EU, and her counterparts from the four Mercosur states.
The deal, which will impact some 730 million people, seeks to establish tariff reductions, easier market access, and key pillars of sustainability. But not everyone is convinced.
Poland and France were two of the most vocal opponents of the Mercosur deal as both fear the impact on European agriculture of an excessive influx of foreign food products.
The Commission’s assurances that no food products would enter the bloc that did not meet EU production standards and that access to the EU market would be restricted for "sensitive" products such as poultry or sugar did not convince Tusk.
But on the part of the trade deal to be voted on by a qualified majority, the opposition of Poland and France would not be enough to block the agreement, Tusk admitted.
“We don’t have a blocking minority at the moment. Poland and France are currently the only states that are saying a hard ‘no’ [to the deal],” he told the media on Friday.
He added that Poland was counting on Italy to join the opposition, although it was unclear whether Rome would decide to join Warsaw and Paris in opposing the deal.
“If we had Italy on our side, we would probably have a blocking minority,” said Tusk.
According to sources close to Palazzo Chigi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni does not intend to support the free trade agreement with Mercosur countries unless the deal includes stronger safeguards for EU farmers.
The proposed agreement will be published online and translated into all EU languages before being submitted to the Council and Parliament for ratification.
PiS supports the government’s position
The EU-Mercosur deal is one of a growing number of issues, along with migration and fossil cars, on which Tusk’s government speaks with one voice with the main opposition conservative party, PiS (ECR).
“I am against the signing of this relationship of the European Union with South American countries because it means unfair competition. We know that South America has completely different rigours relating to agriculture,” Karol Nawrocki, the PiS-backed candidate in the 2025 presidential election, said at a campaign rally on Sunday.
Nawrocki took the opportunity to slam Germany, which the PiS has traditionally been sceptical of and sarcastically called “the EU’s engine.”
“We know that Germany has its national interest in South America related to the export of its automotive and technological products, and that’s why it is so adamant in driving the entire EU to sign the Mercosur agreement, which is unfavourable to Polish farmers,” he added.
“Thus, achieving a blocking majority is my obligation,” he said, without elaborating on how he would fulfil this promise as a presidential candidate.
*first published in: Euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
