The French government demanded that the European Commission announce the definitive suspension of trade negotiations with Mercosur. The European countryside fears that this agreement will serve to open the entire door of the European market to agricultural products from the South American bloc.
The French are the ones making the most noise, but behind them countries like Belgium, Austria, Poland, Luxembourg, Ireland and the Netherlands hide their rejection of the agreement, writes Agnes Poirier-Leroy. The agreement would unite two markets that total 780 million people and trade exchanges that are around $50 billion a year, she says.