Von Der Leyen Announces EU – MERCOSUR Agreement

In what many analysts call a “blitz,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen flew to Montevideo, Uruguay, to finalize the signing of free trade agreements between the European Union (EU) and MERCOSUR, the South American free trade association comprising Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia.

The EU and MERCOSUR have been negotiating for more than 20 years to finalize an agreement that now appears to be complete, even if a political battle for final ratification is declared in Europe, with France leading a group of dissenters that also includes Poland and Austria, as well as Italy, but with less heated tones in the latter case.

Criticism from Paris and other opponents of the agreement stems from protests by farmers (there have been riots in Europe for more than a year) fearing unfair competition from their foreign counterparts, who would have easier and less expensive production conditions because of the lower cost of local labor and less stringent legislation on environmental protection and the use of pesticides and agrochemicals.

Either way, the signing puts an end to years of negotiations between the two groups, but with Donald Trump in the White House, von der Leyen wants to speed them up.

“This is a historic day, it is an ambitious and balanced agreement,” explained the German politician, who wrote on X social media: “We have concluded the negotiations for the EU-Mercosur agreement. It marks the beginning of a new story. I now look forward to discussing it with EU countries. This agreement will work for people and businesses. More jobs. More choices. Shared prosperity.” The discussion with the EU is unlikely to be painless.