EU offers timeline for final Mercosur deal proposal

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, aims to present its proposal on a free-trade agreement with Mercosur to members before the end of the summer, a spokesman for the institution said Thursday.

"The legal review [of documents] is ongoing. We want to make sure it is done in a very thorough way. The intention is to present a proposal before the end of the summer," said Commission trade spokesman Olof Gill.

The spokesman added Thursday that the Commission will “continuously” contact EU countries “to discuss with them what we see as the very clear advantages of the agreement from an economic and geopolitical point of view,.”

“We will listen to their concerns and try to reassure them that we believe we have put in place all the necessary safeguards – for example, on sensitive agricultural issues,” he said.

“We believe that in an unstable world, partnerships with reliable allies around the world, with clearly defined rules for mutual benefit, are more valuable than ever,” he added.

The EU and the four founding members of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) announced four months ago that negotiations over the trade agreement had finished.

Despite the December 2024 announcement, the issue continues to generate controversy within the EU. France, in particular, is standing firm with its opposition to the deal.

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said on Tuesday that the deal “was bad yesterday and is still bad,” echoing criticism from President Emmanuel Macron.

Meanwhile, in a global scenario marked by the real possibility of a wider trade war over tariffs, the EU has made it a priority to diversify its partners and trade agreements.

Finland and Sweden, for example, are pushing for the development of further free-trade deals with other countries in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Therefore, they must defend the Mercosur deal.

"We must fully implement the free-trade agreement with Mercosur, which has just been negotiated," Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Tuesday.

– TIMES/AFP