EU member states will be asked to vote on a significant trade deal with four South American economies, after the European Commission promised “robust safeguards” for farmers.
The EU’s executive said the agreement with the Mercosur bloc – made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – would create a free-trade area of around 700 million people, making it the world’s largest.
France and Poland had originally warned of the potential impact that cheaper goods and agricultural products could have on their farmers.
However, French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said that the Commission’s proposed guarantees were a “step in the right direction”.
Supporters of the deal, led by Germany, say they are seeking to expand the EU’s global trade partners in the wake of US tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
The text of the agreement, which was agreed last December after more than 25 years in the making, needs the backing of 15 of the 27 member states and the European Parliament to be approved.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government would oppose the deal, but accepted that it would probably go through: “If it becomes a reality, we will not rest until these defence mechanisms are in effect.”
However, the head of Germany’s BGA wholesale and foreign trade federation, Dirk Jandura, said Europe had to act fast before other powers divided up the region: “In times of global uncertainty, Europe needs new partnerships.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “EU businesses and the EU agrifood sector will immediately reap the benefits of lower tariffs and lower costs”.
Writing in a post on X, she added they had listened to farmers and member states, and had delivered “legally binding” safeguards to “give them confidence to support the deal”.
EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said the commission hoped for the deal to be approved by the end of this year.
Under the deal, Mercosur nations will gradually get rid of taxes on 91% of EU goods including cars, chemicals, wine and chocolate. Cars currently face 35% tariffs and the European Commission believes exports could rise by up to €49bn a year.
In return, the EU will allow Mercosur to export goods such as meat honey, sugar and soybeans and other goods like critical minerals with fewer restrictions.
This influx is a primary reason behind concerns among some EU countries that their own agricultural sector will be undermined by cheaper imports.
Among the protections for farmers that the Commission said would be implemented are a mechanism to suspend Mercosur’s preferential access to some farm products like beef, as well as a planned a €6.3bn ($7.38bn) crisis fund.
Farmers have repeatedly protested that cheap imports do not meet the EU’s green and food safety requirements, which the Commission denies.
Copa-Cogeca, the European lobby group representing the agricultural sector, called the deal “economically and politically damaging for Europe’s farmers, rural communities, and consumers”.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said it would need to consult with key stakeholders before making a decision on whether to back it.
Italy’s CIA confederation of farmers said it could only be beneficial if the safeguards that protected sensitive products such as meat, sugar and cereals were “truly swift and transparent”.
CIA president Cristiano Fini said the deal created new opportunities at a “delicate time for Made in Italy exports, following the Trump tariffs”.
The EU reached a controversial deal with the US over the summer for 15% tariffs to be imposed on European exports while some EU tariffs on US goods would be scrapped. The deal avoided threatened Trump tariffs of 30% on EU goods but has left many business sectors in Europe dissatisfied.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was good that the free trade talks with Mercosur had entered their final phase, saying the deal “strengthens our economy in Germany and in Europe”.
The four South American states are seen as a growing market for EU goods like cars, machinery and chemicals, as well as a reliable source of minerals like lithium.
Supporters say the deal will help reduce European trade dependence on powerful nations, by both expanding export markets away from Trump tariffs and reducing reliance on Chinese imports of raw materials like lithium.
