While focused on negotiating a new type of bilateral trade deal with Donald Trump, the government of Javier Millay is taking the new threat from France cautiously and without surprise, according to Alec Oxenford, Argentina’s ambassador to the United States. ‘I will not sign’ the final free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.
New Foreign Minister Pablo Kirno, who will visit Washington this Tuesday, said last week that signing an FTA between Mercosur and the EU is one of his priorities.
“France will not sign an agreement that condemns farmers in the long run because we want to support them.” Emmanuel Macron’s agriculture minister, Annie Genevard, was sacked this weekend after affirming several supposed “red lines” for the government, despite the French president saying last week that he was open to signing the agreement signed by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and the 27 EU member states, which still needs to be adjusted before full membership.
Despite the Geneva government slamming the door, France – although not the only European country to have been the most reluctant to sign an agreement to rebuild relations between the two blocs – has made significant progress in recent days, in talks with this newspaper. The Argentine government downplayed the threat.
Putting the bow on a deal between Europe and Latin America will not be easy, but EU member states met on Thursday to give the first green light to a series of safeguards to protect European farmers when the deal comes into force.
According to discussions between Brussels and Brazil, which holds the temporary Mercosur presidency, after a meeting in Uruguay in December 2024, which Millais also attended, the work carried out in recent months will enable the agreement to be signed at the next Mercosur summit to be held in Brazil on December 20, hosted by Lula da Silva and expected to be attended by the Argentine president.
The European Commission has already announced that: Final text of free trade agreement The agreement with Mercosur has been signed and now requires approval by a majority of the 27 member states. On the Argentine side, these are the documents they had at the time. It was negotiated by former Foreign Minister Diana Mondino and former International Trade Relations Secretary Marcelo Cima. They were involved in the initial and substantive negotiations currently being negotiated by Lula da Silva.
At the same time, Millais turned this problem around 180 degrees. What’s more, Millay not only gave the order to move forward with his block partners towards the opening that Argentina itself wanted; We stopped prioritizing the free trade agreement with the United States. The deal does not take that form and would also force a withdrawal from Mercosur. It aims to rectify a serious deficiency in the European Union embassies, which have no bosses and have been neglected for a year and a half.
So, as expected, Clarín, Javier Millay’s government has called on the European Union to recognize Fernando Iglesias as ambassador. Official ally PRO Taka, whose term as an MP ends at the end of December, was asked to deploy to Brussels several months ago.
According to the agency bloombergthis measure will protect the agricultural sector and food producers from lower price competition and sudden increases in imports from new trading partners such as Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia. The European Commission, the executive arm of ‘The 27’, proposed that: The protections are meant to calm France and other countries concerned about the deal’s impact on farmers.
They keep claiming the same thing. Over the weekend, French producers returned by tractor to stage their usual protest against the deal, but this time they arrived at the gates of Versailles.
Farmers say they are already feeling the effects of President Donald Trump’s high tariffs. “Cheap imports” are also affecting them, and the deal with Mercosur will make it worse. And it requires assurances that Latin American competitors comply with EU health and environmental standards, including those on antibiotics and pesticides.
According to bloombergFrench meat, poultry, beet, sugar, bioethanol and grain producers jointly declared that Paris should refuse to sign the agreement and form a coalition with other EU countries to block its ratification. Minister Genevart then appeared, but nevertheless congratulated the inclusion of the safeguard clause in the final text of the agreement.
But the producers, who have set up around 20 tractors in front of the Palace of Versailles, believe they are just a “smoke screen” and will not protect them from Mercosur’s raw materials.
About The Author
