00:00European leaders have decided to delay a vote on the controversial Mercosur trade deal until January.
00:06The Mercosur is a massive trade deal that could open up the markets of Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil,
00:14but that will now have to wait until the new year.
00:18The original plan was for the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,
00:22to travel to Brazil this Saturday, this weekend, to finally sign it after more than 20 years of negotiations,
00:28but that will now have to wait.
00:31A lot of this now depends on the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
00:35She holds the key to make this deal fly or establish a blocking minority alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.
00:44After a phone call with the Brazilian President Loura da Silva, Meloni says she still wants to get this trade deal done,
00:51she still wants to sign it, but she needs more time to work out more assurances for the Italian farming community.
00:58At this point, the Mercosur is not going to happen now.
01:01It will have to wait until the new year.
01:04No set date for it for the supporters of this deal, including Germany and Spain.
01:09That is a source of frustration, disappointment, because they argue this needs to get done as soon as possible.
01:15It is imperative in a world in which President Trump now has more than tripled tariffs on the European Union.
01:22That means the bloc needs to open up new markets for exports as soon as possible.
01:27For the critics, including France, they argue this deal has to be massively reworked
01:32because it would be unfair to European farmers on both pricing and practices when it comes to farming.
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