EU pushes forward long-discussed free trade deal with South America
[January 08, 2026] By
SAM McNEIL
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is renewing internal negotiations
over a free trade agreement with five South American nations neighboring
Venezuela a week after the United States' audacious raid there to detain
President Nicolás Maduro.
Ministers of Agriculture from across the 27 European Union nations met
in Brussels on Wednesday in part to discuss protecting farmers while
also reaping the economic and geopolitical benefits of a free trade deal
with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and
Uruguay. The EU's trade negotiator Maroš Šefčovič said after the meeting
that while the deal would increase EU agrifood exports by up to 50%.
“It’s a landmark one. This is the biggest free trade agreement we ever
negotiated,” Šefčovič said. He said that EU trading partners “value the
EU for particular one thing in this turbulent world, one thing above
all, this is credibility. So therefore, we must, safeguard this
priceless currency by remaining a trusted and reliable trading partner.”
He said that EU negotiations over Mercosur will continue on Friday amid
speculation that a deal could be signed in Paraguay on Jan. 12.
Fierce opposition from France in December, fired up by enraged farmers,
derailed the deal and forced European Commission President Ursula von
der Leyen to scrap a trip to Brazil where top EU officials had hoped to
sign the EU-Mercosur deal after 26 years of negotiations.
Italy is seen as the linchpin of the deal. If Italian Prime Minister
Giorgia Meloni joins the deal's supporters led by Germany, then it will
pass over the objections of France and Poland. She posted on X on
Tuesday that she welcomed von der Leyen's proposal to fast-track funds
to farmers but Meloni did not promise crucial backing to the deal.
The Mercosur trade deal covers a market of 780 million people and a
quarter of the globe’s gross domestic product, and would progressively
remove duties on almost all goods traded between the two blocs. Such a
massive free trade deal would provide a stark counterpoint in South
America of economic diplomacy compared to the Trump administration's
incursion into Venezuela and threats across the region.
The EU is seeking to forge new trade ties amid commercial tensions with
the U.S. and China, and the December delay of Mercosur was seen to
diminish the EU’s negotiating credibility.
French President Emmanuel Macron led opposition to the deal, which he
sees as fueling a surging far right that rallies support by criticizing
the deal. His centrist government has demanded safeguards to monitor and
stop large economic disruption in the EU, increased regulations in the
Mercosur nations like pesticide restrictions, and more inspections of
imports at EU ports.
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Italy's Prime minister Giorgia Meloni, right, and President of the
European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, share a word before the
start of a summit in Rome, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP
Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, file)
 French Agriculture Minister Annie
Genevard reaffirmed Wednesday France’s opposition to the Mercosur
deal, because she said it threatens sectors including beef, chicken,
sugar, ethanol and honey.
“As long as the combat is not over, nothing is lost,” she told
French news broadcaster France Info, referring to the ongoing
negotiations over the deal.
If the EU Commission signs the deal on Jan. 12, it will be debated
at the European Parliament, she said. “There’s no guarantee the deal
will be approved by the European Parliament,” she said.
She also acknowledged Italy “will likely” approve the deal.
Supporters say the EU-Mercosur deal would offer a clear alternative
to Beijing’s export controls and Washington’s tariff blitzkrieg,
while detractors say it will undermine both environmental
regulations and the EU’s iconic agricultural sector.
Šefčovič said recent negotiations within the EU over the deal had
led to new safeguards like “semiautomatic triggering thresholds”
that would snap into place if Mercosur imports are found to be
deeply undercutting EU products.
The political tensions that have marked Mercosur in recent years —
especially between Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei and
Brazil’s center-left Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the bloc’s two main
partners — have not deterred South American leaders from pursuing an
alliance with Europe that will benefit their agricultural sectors.
Venezuela was in Mercosur until 2016, when the trade bloc suspended
its membership, a move criticized by Venezuela’s new prime minister
Delcy Rodríguez, then the foreign minister.
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Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Giada Zampano in
Rome contributed to this report.
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