French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that he is not ready to back the free trade deal with the Latin American Mercosur countries in its current form despite new agriculture safeguards.
“Much has been improved,” Macron said, but the safeguards have not yet been finalized and coordinated with the Mercosur countries.
The controversial free trade deal is intended to boost trade between the European Union and the four Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — but is still viewed critically by some in the EU.
The safeguards will allow the EU to temporarily suspend tariff preferences on certain agricultural products once the Mercosur deal is in place if these imports are considered harmful to EU producers.
Macron said France demands that work on the agreement continue “so that things are taken seriously, our agriculture is respected, and the food security of our citizens throughout Europe is guaranteed.”
France is not prepared to sign the agreement in its current form, he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen still needs the green light from EU leaders to sign off on the trade deal at a summit of Mercosur countries in Brazil on Saturday.
Whether fellow EU leaders will be able to convince Macron at a summit in Brussels on Thursday remains to be seen.
Angry farmers descend on Brussels
Thousands of farmers converged on Brussels as EU leaders were meeting, blocking major roads, with some protests turning violent. Demonstrators also hurled potatoes and fireworks at the European Parliament.
Police said they deployed water cannon after some protesters attempted to breach security barriers. Fires were lit and tear gas used, according to images circulating online.
While the organizers spoke of around 10,000 demonstrators, the police estimated some 7,300 people and hundreds of tractors were in attendance.
Farmers reject the Mercosur agreement because they fear disproportionate competition from cheap imports. They are also concerned that they could receive less money from the EU budget in the future.
Around midday, von der Leyen met farmers’ representatives. She said: “In times of uncertainty, our farmers need reliability and support. And Europe will always stand behind them.”
Brazil’s Lula threatens to walk away
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has threatened to withdraw his country from the planned free trade deal with the EU if leaders fail to endorse it this week.
The negotiations, which started in 1999, repeatedly came to a standstill, including over concerns about disadvantages for European farmers from differing standards.
The talks were eventually concluded after 25 years in December 2024 amid a push in the EU to diversify trade as relations with the United States and China grew strained.
According to the European Commission, the new free trade area between the EU and the Mercosur states with more than 700 million people would be the largest of its kind in the world.