Thank you for your question. Emmanuel Macron has just announced that France would vote against the free trade treaty with Mercosur during the vote scheduled for Friday in Brussels. The French decision adds to the opposition of Poland, Austria, Hungary, and even Ireland, which announced today its rejection of this trade agreement.
France, however, should not be able to block the deal. The European Commission seems, in fact, on the verge of obtaining the crucial support of Italy, long reluctant, thus putting an end to Paris’s last hopes of being able to form a blocking minority. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani yesterday welcomed new EU measures in favor of farmers and “the huge advantages” of the treaty with Mercosur, thus showing signs of rallying to the “pro-Mercosur” camp, alongside Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, or the Scandinavian countries, who favor this agreement to revive the European economy.
The European Commission should therefore obtain the approval of European States by qualified majority on Friday; a signature could take place on Monday in Paraguay, after more than twenty-five years of negotiations.
