The EU-Mercosur trade agreement—more than 20 years in negotiation—will take provisional effect in March, according to a senior EU diplomat, despite fierce opposition from France and its farming lobby.
The deal, first reported by Reuters, creates a free trade area between the EU's 450 million consumers and South America's Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay)—230 million more. It eliminates tariffs on €4 billion worth of EU exports annually while opening European markets to South American beef, poultry, and sugar.
That's what terrifies French farmers. They argue South American producers operate under lower environmental and animal welfare standards, creating unfair competition. French President Emmanuel Macron has called the deal "unacceptable" and vowed to block it.
He can't. And that's the story.
Under EU trade policy, the Commission can implement trade deals provisionally before all 27 member states ratify them. France can object. France can delay. But France cannot veto—not alone.
The deal reveals the limits of national power within EU institutions. On trade policy, the European Commission holds authority. Individual states—even large ones like France—cannot block agreements once the Commission and a qualified majority of states support them.
For Brussels, the Mercosur deal demonstrates the EU can still negotiate major trade agreements even as protectionism rises globally. For Paris, it's a humiliating reminder that EU membership means accepting decisions you oppose.
The political fallout will be immediate. French farmers will mobilize. Macron will denounce Brussels. And the far-right will weaponize the deal as evidence that EU institutions ignore French interests.
But the deal will take effect anyway. Because that's how EU trade policy works—even when France doesn't like it.
The agricultural provisions are particularly contentious:
Beef: Mercosur countries gain a 99,000-ton tariff-free quota, well below the 300,000 tons French farmers feared but still significant.
Poultry: A 180,000-ton duty-free quota—concerning to French producers who argue Brazilian chicken farms use growth hormones banned in Europe.
Environmental standards: The deal includes sustainability commitments, but enforcement mechanisms remain weak.
Proponents argue the agreement locks in European access to critical minerals (Brazil holds vast lithium reserves), agricultural products, and a growing consumer market. Critics say it sacrifices European farmers to benefit German carmakers.
What's clear: after 20+ years of negotiation, the EU-Mercosur deal is happening. France's opposition highlights a fundamental tension in European integration: member states cede authority to Brussels on trade, then discover they can't retrieve it when they dislike the result.
Brussels decides more than you think. Even when Paris objects.
