France: EU-Mercosur deal will not be signed at G20 in Brazil

France says the long-stalled free-trade agreement negotiated between the European Union and Mercosur nations, which Paris opposes, “will not be signed” at next week’s G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro. 

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “is perfectly aware of France's position on Mercosur, as well as that of other countries, and that is why this agreement will not be signed in Rio in a few days.” 

The minister told France 3 television that Paris’ opposition is strident. 

“It is a bad agreement,” she said, asserting that it would mean the arrival in France of “99,000 tonnes of beef, 180,000 tonnes of sugar and as many tonnes of poultry” to compete directly with local producers.

“Moreover, at the cost of deforestation and environmental standards,” she added. 

French agricultural unions are categorically opposed to the signing of the agreement, which has been negotiated for decades between the EU and the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia).  

– TIMES/AFP