“The concerns are lively because the European Commission wants to go into force. It’s very serious. States have not been truly associated with negotiation. Farmers even less, “insurgerated this Wednesday, June 25, 2025, Annie Genevard, the Minister of Agriculture, alongside her Polish counterpart Czeslaw Siekierski, who shares her concerns about the free trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur countries.
“We are joined in our fight by Hungary, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Italy, which expressed their strong concern. The Commission must have a qualified majority to be able to adopt this text. It is not won, ”she added, also citing the commitment of Belgium.
These countries have issued reservations, but not everyone has clearly indicated if they would abstain or if they would vote against.
“We could make a joint declaration”
The blocking minority – at least four Council Member States, representing more than 35 % of the population of the European Union – therefore does not seem to be acquired by the Minister, who has said, for weeks, to be close, while being “sure of nothing”, and has multiplied the movements to block the adoption of the commercial treaty between the European Union and the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay).
“We could make a joint statement (with the Italian Minister, Editor’s note) this Friday in Rome. Italy has the same reservations as us, ”she said on Wednesday, although the country, truck in the vote, did not clearly indicate its decision.
A European official said on Tuesday that the “proposal for a signature and a conclusion would be adopted by the Commission before the end of the month” of June.
