France is putting the brakes on a crucial EU vote on the bloc’s long-awaited trade mega-deal with the Mercosur countries—a move that could ultimately sink the agreement, three EU diplomats told Politico.
After U.S. President Donald Trump slammed Europe as “weak” and “decaying,” the European Commission is racing to prove the opposite by pushing to seal the Mercosur pact before Christmas. The deal, after 25 years of talks, would create a common market with more than 700 million people across Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Yet, just days before Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hopes to fly to Brazil for a signing ceremony, France is sounding the alarm: its long-standing demands still haven’t been met. Paris is signaling that it cannot support the agreement in an imminent vote by EU countries and is urging that the decision be postponed until January, according to the diplomats.
On Thursday, December 11th, the French government reiterated that it remains dissatisfied and that its final stance will depend on progress made toward meeting its conditions.
France’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said,
France is a major agricultural power—we defend our agricultural interests very firmly in these negotiations. We continue to work on this agreement, which is not acceptable in its current form.
Paris insists its three central demands—the inclusion of ‘mirror clauses,’ stronger sanitary controls, and reinforced agricultural safeguards—remain unmet.
European agricultural producers face strict rules on pesticide use, animal welfare, hormone treatments in meat, and carbon emissions—standards often less rigorous in Mercosur nations. The ‘mirror clauses’ refer to provisions that would require agricultural products imported from Mercosur countries to comply with the same stringent environmental, social, sanitary, and health standards as those enforced on EU producers. This would ensure a level playing field, preventing dumping of lower-standard goods that could undercut European farmers. Without these clauses, France argues the deal would harm local jobs and sustainability.
France’s requirements are frustrating pro-Mercosur countries led by Germany, which argue Paris has already received ample concessions, including new safeguard measures to shield European farmers if Latin American beef or poultry floods EU markets.
A French holdout could leave the Danish presidency of the Council short of the supermajority needed to approve the deal. Under EU rules, a “qualified majority” requires at least 15 of the 27 member states representing 65% of the EU population.
However, a senior EU diplomat warned that the pact may not survive another delay.
If von der Leyen does not sign it, if we do not allow her to sign it on the 20th, it’s dead. And then we need to ask ourselves whether that’s really where we want to be in the world.”
Ireland—also wary of the pact due to its large farming sector—said on Thursday that it was “working with like-minded countries,” which has previously included Poland and Austria, on its position.
Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris said,
The key question now is whether a blocking minority still exists. And I think the jury is still a little out on that.
