EU-Mercosur trade deal: Lula eyes January signing; EU farmer protests and member pushback delay pact

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that he hopes the long-pending free-trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union will be signed in January, even as opposition from some EU members and protests by European farmers delay the deal, AP reported.Speaking at a summit of South American leaders in Foz do Iguacu, on Brazil’s border with Argentina and Paraguay, Lula said European negotiators had earlier indicated the agreement would be signed this weekend, prompting the meeting. That did not happen, he said, after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked for more time.Top EU officials had been aiming to finalise the EU-Mercosur deal in Brazil, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, following a tense EU summit, that the signing would be postponed by “a few extra weeks” to address concerns raised by member states.Lula said he spoke to Meloni by phone on Friday and received a letter from EU leadership indicating an intention to conclude the agreement in January. He added that the delay underscored the lack of political resolve to finish talks that have stretched over more than 26 years.“Without political will and courage from leaders, it won’t be possible to finish a negotiation that has dragged for 26 years,” Lula told fellow leaders. “Meanwhile, Mercosur will continue to work with other partners.”Von der Leyen needs the backing of at least two-thirds of EU member states to secure the deal. Italy’s opposition would allow France to marshal enough votes to block her from signing it.“The world is eager to make deals with Mercosur,” Lula said. “Many countries want that. And we certainly will be able to finish the deals that were not finished during my presidency [of the bloc, which ends in December].”If concluded, the agreement would create a market of about 780 million people, covering roughly a quarter of global gross domestic product, and would gradually remove duties on most goods traded between the two blocs.France has led resistance to the pact involving the EU and the five active Mercosur members — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. French President Emmanuel Macron said at the EU summit on Thursday that he would not commit to supporting the deal next month and was in talks with Italian, Polish, Belgian, Austrian and Irish leaders about delaying it to address farmers’ concerns.Lula said Macron alone could not block the agreement.“Let’s hope that things happen for the good of our Mercosur, multilateralism and the development of our countries,” he said.