Farm lobby forces delay to Mercosur pact

Europe's farm lobby has once again shown its strength with a further delay to the signing of the trade deal with the Latin American trade bloc Mercosur which has now been over 25 years in the making

The EU has agreed to delay the signing of its trade deal with South American countries until early January after Italy and France said they needed more time to convince farmers to accept the pact. The decision, which ends plans to complete the long-delayed Mercosur free trade accord by this weekend, came after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pleaded for more time during a phone call on Thursday with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 

“We have reached out to our Mercosur partners and agreed to postpone slightly the signature,” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen posted on X. The Brazilian leader had warned on Wednesday that if the landmark deal was not signed this weekend it would never be signed during his presidency. But he softened his tone after the call with Meloni, the exponent of pragmatic nationalist politics.

 “Meloni explained that she is not against the agreement, she is simply experiencing some political embarrassment because of the Italian farmers, but that she is certain she is capable of convincing them to accept the agreement,” Lula said. “She asked me that if we have patience for a week, 10 days, at most a month, Italy will join the agreement,” he said, adding that he would relay Meloni’s comments at a meeting of Mercosur countries this weekend. 

The EU’s biggest free trade deal has taken 25 years to negotiate, having been agreed a year ago, pending formal ratification. France has also sought to delay the signing of a deal until its concerns about the impact on farmers were assuaged.

The politics have been complicated by a separate dispute involving French farmers which has somehow become related, at least in the minds of conspiracy theorists.

The French government's handling of an outbreak of bovine lumpy skin disease (LSD) has led to the blocking of highways and inter city railways along with the traditional dumping of manure outside government offices.  The disease can be fatal for cattle, but is harmless for humans.   

Ministers have ordered the culling of herds in affected areas and the vaccination of those nearby.  However, internet rumours say it is part of an EU plot to kill off French cattle in favour of South American beef imports.   Riot police have had to be brought in to protect vets implementing the culls,    The army has been drafted in to speed up vaccinations.