MERCOSUR and EU Sign Free Trade Agreement After 25 Years of Negotiations
Ursula von der Leyen (C) and the presidents of the MERCOSUR countries, Dec. 6, 2024. X/ @EUinDE
December 6, 2024 Hour: 12:03 pm
The text must be translated into the various official languages of the European Union so that each EU country can ratify it.
On Friday, the member countries of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the European Union (EU) signed a free trade agreement after nearly 25 years of negotiations. The deal faces strong opposition from nations like France and Italy, as well as from French and Polish farmers.
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This occurred during the MERCOSUR summit held in Montevideo, which was attended by presidents Luis Lacalle (Uruguay), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Javier Milei (Argentina), Santiago Peña (Paraguay), and Luis Arce (Bolivia), who participated for the first time as a full member of the South American bloc.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was also present at the summit, described the EU-MERCOSUR agreement as a milestone in a “unique” partnership.
The creation of a 700-million-consumer market “will strengthen value chains, develop strategies, and support the creation of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” she said and emphasized that the EU-MERCOSUR agreement is “balanced.”
Von der Leyen assured European farmers that the final text of the free trade agreement includes “robust guarantees” to protect their economic activities given that their concerns have been taken into account.
“The EU-MERCOSUR agreement reflects our steadfast commitment to the Paris Agreement (on fighting climate change) and to the fight against deforestation,” she added, as reported by RTE.
Once signed, the agreement’s text must be translated into the various official languages of the European Union so that each EU country can ratify it. Due to this process, the EU-MERCOSUR agreement could take up to two years to come into effect. However, the obstacles to its ratification remain unresolved.
This week, for example, French President Emmanuel Macron had a phone conversation with Von der Leyen in which he stated that the trade agreement is unacceptable in its current form.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – Sputnik- RTE
