EU-Mercosur trade deal gains approval despite France and Italy opposition stance

Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) January 09, 2026 – EU member states approved the Mercosur trade agreement through qualified majority voting despite formal opposition from France, Italy, Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Ireland after 25 years of intermittent negotiations. The pact opens duty-free access for 99,000 tonnes hormone-free beef alongside poultry and sugar quotas connecting 450 million Europeans to 260 million South Americans. French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni failed to assemble a unanimous veto blocking Coreper I committee endorsement Friday afternoon.

EU ambassadors confirmed 15 countries representing 65% population threshold satisfied Article 218 ratification requirements. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen maintained Brasilia’s signing schedule despite Paris diplomatic pressure. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz supported passage citing raw material diversification against Chinese supply constraints.

Coreper committee records qualified majority endorsement vote

Permanent Representatives Committee Level I validated Mercosur text transmission to Council formalising written procedure completion before 5pm deadline. France cast a negative vote alongside Poland while Belgium abstained from balancing Flemish-Walloon agricultural constituencies. Italy conditioned support through reciprocal guarantees declaration addressing beef price depression risks.

Maria Tadeo detailed voting breakdown outcomes. Maria Tadeo said in X post,

“Mercosur deal approved in principle. France Poland Hungary Ireland and Austria voting against. Belgium abstained. Safeguards also approved. Deal should be formalized in written procedure before 5pm today. Unless major shock, saga is over and diplomatic blow for Paris.”

Mercosur deal approved in principle. France Poland Hungary Ireland and Austria voting against. Belgium abstained. Safeguards also approved. Deal should be formalized in written procedure before 5pm today. Unless major shock, saga is over and diplomatic blow for Paris @euronews

— Maria Tadeo (@mariatad) January 9, 2026

Von der Leyen confirmed travel preparations intact scheduling Lula da Silva signing ceremony. Brazilian Agriculture Minister Carlos Fávaro projected $8.5 billion export gains creating 25,000 processing jobs.

French tractor blockades reach Paris peripherique ring roads

Coordination Rurale deployed 100 tractors obstructing Porte d’Auteuil despite prefecture prohibitions targeting Eiffel Tower approaches. Vienne deputy president Stéphane Pelletier coordinated alongside lumpy skin disease culling protests injuring 23 demonstrators through gendarme tear gas responses. Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau confirmed negative vote activating €400 million aid excluding import concessions.

Macron sought Article 48 Treaty unanimity coordinating Ireland, Poland, Austria, Hungary unsuccessfully. FNSEA warned indefinite blockades absent parliamentary ratification withdrawal commitments.

Italian senate influences government conditional approval stance

Giorgia Meloni informed parliament signing premature absent verified agricultural protections despite December non-binding rejection motion. Coldiretti projected 40,000 closures confronting 99,000-tonne Brazilian beef alongside 180,000-tonne poultry quotas. Protected designations numbering 45 including Parmigiano Reggiano maintained €15 billion export value through safeguard activations.

Italy generates 950,000 tonnes of beef annually facing phased expansions reaching 550,000 tonnes Brazilian allocation over five years.

Franco-German trade policy divergences shape ratification dynamics

Eddy Wax highlighted Berlin-Paris tensions influencing outcomes. Eddy Wax said in X post,

“Macron stopped Merz getting the Ukraine reparations loan. Now Merz gets the Mercosur deal Macron hates. Amid all the talk about the need for EU to stay united, the fact is that France and Germany are increasingly not on the same side when big decisions are taken in Brussels.”

Macron stopped Merz getting the Ukraine reparations loan. Now Merz gets the Mercosur deal Macron hates.

Amid all the talk about the need for EU to stay united, the fact is that France and Germany are increasingly not on the same side when big decisions are taken in Brussels.

— Eddy Wax ✍️ (@EddyWax) January 9, 2026

Chancellor Merz prioritised credibility countering Beijing dependencies through diversified sourcing projecting €4 billion consumer savings. Environment Minister Steffi Lemke addressed Amazon deforestation monitoring spanning 5.2 million hectares of Brazilian territory.

Mercosur quota system establishes phased agricultural access framework

December 2024 agreement grants duty-free 99,000 tonnes of beef expanding Brazilian initial 125,000-tonne allocation alongside Argentina 55,000 tonnes. Poultry quotas reach 180,000 tonnes supporting 300,000 tonnes sugar accessing 780 million consumer markets. Automatic safeguards activate upon 25% import surges verified European Food Safety Authority protocols.

Council Legal Service confirmed WTO compatibility excluding hormone-treated meat preserving 1997 sanitary equivalences across 47 inspected Brazilian facilities.

Brussels demonstrations prompt water cannon deployments thursday

Thousands of tractors encircled the European Quarter blocking Rue de la Loi during presidential consultations. Farmers for Climate ignited hay bales outside Berlaymont while Polish Sejm encirclement demanded Ukrainian grain baseline restorations. Spanish Jaén mobilised a Civil Guard containing 4,000 across 12 motorway junctions.

COPA-COGECA documented 1.2 million projected job losses representing 10 million membership calculating 28% self-sufficiency erosion since 2013.

Spanish olive sector confronts 100,000-tonne ethanol competition threat

Spanish olive growers in Andalusia confront an existential threat from a proposed 100,000-tonne ethanol diversion policy, pitting food security against biofuel mandates as the region’s 1.3 million-tonne output 45% of EU production faces projected price collapses below €3/litre. Sector leaders warn 15,000 small farms risk closure without immediate intervention, exacerbating rural depopulation in Jaén and Córdoba where traditional groves already operate at €4.50/kg costs amid decade-high yields from 2025/26’s 1.4 million-tonne harvest. 

Growers reject biofuel repurposing as “industrial dumping,” arguing olive oil’s nutritional primacy rich in oleic acid and polyphenols trumps ethanol’s marginal CO2 savings when transport emissions are factored, echoing 2023 Xylella outbreaks that halved Puglia’s yields. Superior Court rulings authorised emergency irrigation bypassing Junta de Andalucía drought curbs, unlocking reservoirs for 50,000 hectares despite ecological protests over Doñana aquifer depletion, where salinisation already threatens 20% of groves. 

Alcaraz hailed the verdict as “survival justice,” enabling spring fertigation to salvage 300,000 tonnes at risk, but ecologists decry judicial overreach favouring agribusiness over wetlands. Government packages blend €150 million direct payments, €75 million varietal conversion grants for drought-hardy Arbequina hybrids, and €25 million traceability tech to combat fraud plaguing 30% of bulk exports. COAG and UPA unions coordinate with Brussels for PDO protections, eyeing CAP’s eco-schemes to subsidise terraced replanting while navigating EU Green Deal tensions.

Polish border rejections target Brazilian meat verification protocols

Poland has intensified border controls on Brazilian meat imports, with Agriculture Minister Michał Kołodziejczak authorising veterinary rejections pending comprehensive residue testing, citing non-compliance with EU standards on antibiotics, hormones, and pesticides. This move invokes GATT Article XXI national security exceptions, allowing quantitative restrictions amid concerns over deforestation-linked supply chains and food safety risks exposed in 2025 audits revealing 12% failure rates in Brazilian frigoríficos. 

Warsaw’s 2.1 million tonnes annual cereal output underscores domestic vulnerabilities, as Ukrainian grain imports capped at 2021 baselines flood markets via Gdansk’s Grains Terminal, prompting Solidarity union-led blockades at 50 facilities to enforce quotas and protect 300,000 family farms facing bankruptcy.

The Polish strategy aligns with broader EU-Mercosur tensions, where France and Ireland vetoed the deal over hormone-treated beef flooding local markets, projecting 180,000 tonne annual quotas displacing €1.2 billion in EU production. Kołodziejczak’s dual-track approach residue testing delays Brazilian shipments while blockades halt Ukrainian volumes buys time for Brussels negotiations, with Poland demanding binding deforestation moratoriums and mirror-level sanitary/phytosanitary rules before liberalisation. 

Irish parliamentary opposition confirms MEP voting instructions

Irish Parliamentary opposition has united against government stances on EU agricultural policy, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael MEPs confirming instructions to reject key plenary measures despite Dublin’s wavering support. This cross-party defiance underscores deepening rifts over the EU’s Mercosur trade deal and accompanying farm sustainability directives, which threaten Ireland’s beef sector amid volatile global markets and post-Brexit export pressures. 

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) projects a stark 22% dairy and beef herd contraction from the 2024 620,000-tonne baseline, driven by regulatory burdens including methane taxes, nitrate limits, and culling mandates under the revived Green Deal. IFA president Francie Gorman warns of 150,000 farm exits by 2030 without intervention, citing 2025’s 15% milk price volatility and €400 million lost revenues from wet weather delays.

Belgian regional divisions produce Coreper Abstention vote

Flanders 500,000-tonne pork output protested poultry alongside Walloon Namur slurry dumping. Police arrested 47 breaching Commission barriers managing 2,500 tractors encircling institutions.

Brazilian Verification Systems Confirm Hormone-Free Capacity Exceeding Quotas

12 federal stations process 200,000 tonnes annual beef alongside blockchain traceability covering Abiec 95% utilisations. Minister Fávaro projected 40 plants employing 25,000 supporting Argentina $3.2 billion maize-soy gains. Uruguay certified 98% capacity fulfilling allocations.

Commission maintains Brasilia timeline absent withdrawal triggers

Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič verified satellite deforestation enforcement alongside Paris Agreement essential element status. Tariffs eliminate across 91% goods over 15 years encompassing 25% global GDP markets. €45 billion funding accelerates compensating fertiliser tariff reductions.

National parliaments coordinate article 225 yellow card activations

Italian Senate declared CAP incompatibilities alongside Polish competition distortions. French Assemblée Nationale gathered 18 reasoned opinions exceeding 40% population threshold mandating reassessments. Pesticide residue disparities prompted sanitary renegotiation demands.

S&D conditioned farm enhancements while Renew endorsed safeguards. Greens/EFA demanded rejection alongside ECR/ID ensuring plenary impossibility. January 22 convenes 50%+1 quorum alongside a favourable threshold.

Impact assessments balance sectoral contractions consumer benefits

Commission forecasted 1% beef decline offsetting 4% price reductions alongside €4 billion savings. French INRAE predicted 18% herd reductions while Dutch Wageningen assessed 15% poultry closures. COPA documented 22% profit compressions protein sectors. European Council Foreign Relations identified Latin orientation risks absent Western pacts. German industry projected dependency reductions alongside Spanish textile tariff eliminations boosting Mercosur apparel sourcing.