EU-Mercosur trade talks still alive, Brussels says in rebuke to France's Macron

euronews (in English)

The European Commission assured on Tuesday that talks on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement continue after a French official claimed President Emmanuel Macron had convinced the bloc's executive to bury the deal.

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00:00 The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement could fall victim to farmers' protests across Europe.

00:06 Among their complaints, French and Belgian farmers have raised the problem of unfair

00:10 competition as they say such big trade deals allow the entry of large agricultural products

00:15 from South America, which according to them, don't respect the same regulatory standards.

00:22 "We have everything to do it at home. We are forced not to produce at home and to import

00:30 from abroad which is not at all in line with the good standards compared to us. In the end,

00:34 it puts us in a difficult situation and it is impossible to continue in this way for us."

00:39 French President Emmanuel Macron has gone as far as getting in touch with the European

00:43 Commission and has asked to stop the talks as he says it's impossible to conclude negotiations

00:48 at the present time. The European Commission also says that the conditions to reach an

00:53 agreement aren't there yet, but that contacts are being maintained between all parties.

00:59 "The discussion continues and the European Union continues to pursue its objective of

01:07 reaching an agreement that respects the objectives of the EU in terms of durability and that

01:15 respects our sensitivities in the agricultural field."

01:19 The trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries including Argentina,

01:23 Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay has been under negotiation for decades. Following a first

01:28 agreement in 2019, new conditions have prevented its ratification. Shona Murray, Euronews,

01:34 Brussels.

01:35 Brussels.

01:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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