By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, Dec 18 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged EU leaders on Thursday to back a contentious free trade pact with South American bloc Mercosur but French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron insisted it was still not ready.
Some 25 years in the making, a trade pact with Mercosur would be the EU’s largest in terms of tariff cuts.
Germany, Spain and Nordic countries say it will help exports hit by U.S. tariffs and reduce dependence on China by providing access to minerals.
“This trade agreement is the first of many that must come so that Europe gains geo-economic and geopolitical weight at a time when it is being questioned by clear adversaries, such as (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, or even by traditional allies,” Sanchez said.
“If the European Union wants to remain credible in global trade policy, decisions must be made now,” added Merz, in Brussels for a Ukraine-focused summit.
Critics of the pact, however, fear cheap commodities flooding the market to the detriment of European producers.
The summit led to an anti-deal protest by some 7,000 mostly farmers, which turned violent early in the afternoon. Belgian police fired tear gas and water cannon as some protesters hurled potatoes and rocks at police and smashed windows.
Brussels police said they had authorised a protest with 50 tractors, but 1,000 had turned up.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is poised to travel to Brazil to sign the agreement concluded last year with the bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
However, she needs support from EU governments and it is unclear whether there will be the required majority of 15 countries representing 65% of the EU’s population.
Poland and Hungary are opposed and France and Italy are nervous about the impact on farmers from increased imports of beef, sugar, poultry and other products.
‘WE ARE NOT READY,’ SAYS MACRON
France is the EU’s largest agricultural producer.
“As we speak, we are not ready; the numbers do not add up to sign this agreement,” Macron said, adding France had been working with Poland, Belgium, Austria and Ireland to force a postponement.
In France, anger over the government’s handling of lumpy skin disease, a virus affecting cattle, has deepened farmer discontent over issues including the EU-Mercosur deal. Farmers in southwest France have blocked highways for days.
Wary of nationwide farmer protests developing like two years ago, Paris is rushing to vaccinate cattle against lumpy skin disease, while maintaining its opposition to the EU-Mercosur agreement.
EU lawmakers and governments reached a provisional agreement on Wednesday on safeguards designed to cap imports of sensitive farm products, such as beef or sugar, and to soften opposition. The European Commission is also due to issue a declaration committing to ensure aligned production standards.
However, Macron said there needed to be reciprocity, so that the EU did not open up its markets to cheap imports of products not bound by EU regulation such as on the use of pesticides.
Some of the tractors that jammed streets in Brussels’ EU quarter had banners echoing Macron’s scepticism.
“Why import sugar from the other side of the world when we produce the best right here? Stop Mercosur,” read one sign.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Inti Landauro, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Louise Breusch Rasmussen; additional reporting Guz Trompiz in Paris; editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Alexandra Hudson)
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