France have officially requested that the Mercosur trade deal that was due for final approval this week in Brussels be postponed until the correct measures are put in place to protect European agriculture.

In a statement released from prime minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office this evening, it said: “France asks that the deadlines be pushed back to continue work on getting the legitimate measures of protection for our European agriculture.”

Brussels has to get the approval of the EU member states, with a member state vote due to take place on Thursday 18 December. This vote will take place against the backdrop of a major farmer protest on the trade deal.

ADVERTISEMENT

The statement from Paris continued: “Given a Mercosur summit is announced for December 20, it is clear in this context that the conditions have not been met for any vote (by states) on authorising the signing of the agreement."

Objections

In an interview published on Sunday in the German financial daily newspaper Handelsblatt, France’s finance minister Roland Lescure made France’s objections clear: “As it stands, the treaty is simply not acceptable.”

“Securing robust and effective safeguard clauses was one of the three key conditions France set before giving its blessing to the agreement.

"The other key points were requiring the same production standards faced by EU farmers and establishing import controls. Until we have obtained assurances on these three points, France will not accept the agreement,” said Lescure.

It's understood that both Poland and Hungary will oppose the deal. Italy is now crucial to achieving a blocking minority of four EU countries representing over 35% of the EU population.

Italy, along with Ireland, has not adopted an official position on the deal, but speaking in Brussels on Friday, Italian minister for agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida said: “If rules on the use of crop protection products and antibiotics are imposed on our producers, in order to protect the environment and labour rights, we cannot allow products that are completely at odds with these standards enter the market."

Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman said: “The Irish Government must honour [its] commitment in the Programme for Government and support the French proposal to postpone the member state vote.”

The next five days will either make or break the much talked-about trade deal.

A vote on the safeguards put in place will take place in the Strasbourg parliament on Tuesday 16 December.

The safeguards have received a lot of criticism across Europe, with many saying that the safeguard clauses do not go far enough to protect European farmers.

The Irish Farmers Journal also understands that the latest version of the safeguard clauses is causing some frustration in the Mercosur trading block, with some of the countries getting increasingly impatient with the proposed changes in the last few weeks.

Even if the safeguard cause gets passed, the deal must get through the member state vote later this week and then a vote in the European Parliament in early 2026.