France is urging the European Union to break off negotiations on a trade agreement with Mercosur
French President Emmanuel Macron turned to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to convince the bloc End negotiations an agreement with Mercosur. The French government is under pressure from farmers who have blocked the main access to Paris.
French farmers brought hundreds of tractors to the highways connecting the interior of the country with the capital. They set up bales of hay in some alleys. By early evening there were full or partial closures on at least eight streets. The government mobilized more than 15,000 police officers.
There is almost two weeksFarmers are protesting against rising fuel prices, taxes in the agricultural sector and what they call growing competition with foreign markets.
The main points of criticism include the negotiations on the European Union's trade agreement with Mercosur. The two blocs are trying to conclude negotiations that have been ongoing for more than 20 years. French manufacturers claim that importing goods from countries like Brazil creates “unfair competition”.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal have already said they are against the deal.
1 of 1 Farmers' protests lead to France putting pressure on the European Union to end negotiations on a trade deal with Mercosur Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction Farmers' protests lead to France putting pressure on the European Union to end negotiations on a End trade agreement with Mercosur Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction
The European Union wants sanctions imposed on countries that fail to meet some environmental targets a gesture seen by Brazilian diplomats as a kind of disguised European protectionism. Brazil wants to restrict the participation of European companies in competitions for state purchases.
This Monday (29), a French government adviser explained that the European Commission assumed that this would be the case after a conversation with President Macron It's impossible to close a deal between the two blocs given the context of France, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. And that, according to the French understanding, the Commission had instructed this End of negotiations underway in Brazil. This information was published by Portal and confirmed by TV Globo with the French government.
O National newspaper contacted the European Commission and in response, spokesman Oloff Gill said that negotiations between the two blocs were continuing but “that some important questions remain unanswered”. He claims:
“The European Union’s focus remains on ensuring that the agreement meets the Union’s sustainability objectives while respecting the sensitivities of the European Union’s agricultural sector.”
Brazilian diplomats involved in drafting the agreement also confirm that negotiations are still ongoing and that negotiators from both blocs met with them last week little progress. Behind the scenes in Itamaraty, the latest statements from the Élysée Palace are seen as an attempt to calm internal protests.