Merz sees a Mercosur agreement soon, Macron says not so fast

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he expects a rapid conclusion to the trade agreement between the European Union and the South American Mercosur states, although French President Emmanuel Macron does not seem to see him in the same way.

Merz, speaking on Thursday after the EU summit in Brussels, said that the leaders of the EU countries agree “that the Mercosur Agreement should now be adopted as quickly as possible”.

The agreement between the EU and the States of Mercosur – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay – would create one of the largest free trade zones in the world, including more than 700 million people.

It mainly aims to reduce prices and stimulate trade. However, to protect EU agriculture, the markets of certain agricultural products would not be entirely open.

The agreement was 20 years.

Merz said that none of the leaders had raised fundamental objections and that there were only minor open questions.

Macron, however, said that his country could not support the agreement in its current form.

“Because I believe that it is not in accordance with what we have recommended for years.” While Macron expressed his general support for the trade agreements, he argued that they had to be just and consistent.

The French chief said that he did not want to fundamentally change the Mersocur agreement, but rather to complete it with additional discussions. He insisted that he had to include protective mechanisms to protect the key areas of agriculture if they were considerably destabilized by the agreement.