The EU-Mercosur deal is strongly opposed by European farmers who fear that the accord would flood the continent with cheap, arguably lower-quality South American imports, such as Brazilian beef, that they say would put them out of business.
Protests by farmers against the agreement began last week in France. One of the country’s main agricultural unions, the FNSEA, said on Tuesday that the demonstrations would continue this week, while tractors from the Coordination Rurale, another union, have hit the streets near the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
France has been the deal’s most vocal opponent, and efforts by Europe’s second-largest economy to drum up opposition to the pact on agricultural grounds appear to be gaining steam. Tuesday saw Poland come out against the deal, dealing a serious political blow to Ursula von der Leyen, who had hoped to kick off her second term at the helm of the European executive by sealing a deal that has been 25 years in the making.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, speaking before a cabinet meeting earlier on Tuesday, said that his government opposed the agricultural terms of the Mercosur accord. And, using similar language to French President Emmanuel Macron in his hard-fought campaign to stall the deal, Tusk said: “Poland will not accept the agreement with South American countries in its current form.”
Winning the argument?
It’s still far from clear if Paris can rally support to block the deal altogether.
Only Austria, France and Ireland had come out against the trade pact before Tuesday. And even with Poland now on board, the Mercosur deal’s opponents are still short of the 35 percent qualified minority of the European Union’s population that they would need to stop the pact.