Four of the people said the upgraded version of the EU-Mexico trade agreement is also scheduled for Wednesday’s meeting, which would allow both deals to pass as a big Latin America package.
The texts would then be sent to EU countries for formal approval. Both deals are expected to be presented as “EU-only agreements,” meaning they could be adopted with qualified majority in the Council of the EU as well as with a majority in the European Parliament, and would not have to pass through national parliaments — significantly expediting the process.
The deal with the Mercosur bloc — consisting of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia — is seen as an important milestone as it would crack open a highly protected market of over 280 million people for European exports.
However, it is likely to run into huge political opposition in countries like France, which fear potentially negative consequences for their farmers due to South American imports such as beef and poultry. French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded the negotiation of an additional protocol to the Mercosur deal with supplementary safeguards for farmers.
Mercosur was also discussed at a Franco-German summit in Toulon on Thursday and Friday, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz being a key proponent of a swift ratification of the deal.
A spokesperson said that the Commission had no comment at this stage.