The intense trade negotiations between the European Union and the Mercosur countries triggered an unexpected debate at the European summit in the evening of Thursday 14 December.
Portugal raised the subject to stress the importance of the on-going negotiations and underline its desire for agreement to be reached quickly. Spain is believed to have followed Portugal’s lead.
France and Ireland took a more cautious approach, arguing for a sound agreement rather than a hasty one. They highlighted the European interests, notably agricultural, to be defended. France will “keep a close eye” on the impact of the future trade agreement on the farming sector, a French diplomatic source said on Friday 15 December. “Ireland will support but as France, some concerns about agricultural sector and beef. Food safety standards are important”, stated Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, insisting on the very strong stances expressed by the two countries.
Despite the intense negotiations which took place on the sidelines of the WTO ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires, it is unlikely that political agreement will be reached before the start of 2018 (see EUROPE 11925). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)