Trade woes put cracks in France’s opposition to EU-Mercosur deal
All the versions of this article: [English] [Español] [français]
Euractiv | 15 April 2025
Trade woes put cracks in France’s opposition to EU-Mercosur deal
by Alice Bergoënd and Sofia Sanchez Manzanaro
US President Donald Trump’s belligerent trade policy has made the EU-Mercosur trade agreement look a bit rosier in the eyes of senior officials in France, long the most vocal opponent of the deal.
Scepticism in Paris has been driven by fears that a surge in South American farm imports from the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – could pose a threat to the French farming sector.
Now that the European Union is embroiled in a trade conflict with the US – a crucial destination for French exports – the political calculus has changed. Senior French officials are reconsidering whether a Mercosur deal might actually be a way to increase French food exports and cash in on new markets.
The European Commission has embarked on a free-trade frenzy to forge new partnerships, as Trump’s tariffs add to existing concerns about the risks of heavy reliance on trade with China. In addition to Mercosur, the EU has recently sealed an agreement with Mexico and is aiming to do the same this year with India, Indonesia and Thailand.
Winds of change
On paper, backing the Mercosur agreement should be an easy sell for Paris, as it would remove hefty tariffs on French cheese and wine, opening a market of over 270 million people.
However, the deal would also allow more imports of cheaper beef, poultry and sugar – a key reason why the entire French political spectrum has maintained an anti-Mercosur stance for years.
Bruno Bonnell, who runs the France 2030 investment plan within the French prime minister’s office, said the EU-Mercosur agreement “constitutes an opportunity for exports” in certain agri-food sectors, while also being “a brake” on the development of others.
Sectors potentially impacted by imports from South America "have one choice: to specialise", Bonnell, a former French MP from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party, told Euractiv.
Bonnell argued that French farmers, Europe’s leading beef producers, should focus on “improving quality” instead of "continuing to produce cows – in direct competition with Brazilian cows – which have no advantage other than being identical".
Beyond the prime minister’s office, signs of a shift may also be emerging at Macron’s office in the Élysée palace. Germany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, said in a TV interview on Sunday that Macron may be leaning towards backing the agreement as part of the EU’s broader push to secure new trading partners.
“A completely new dynamic is emerging,” Merz said. Macron “can see how the balance of power in the world is shifting and that we Europeans now very quickly need partners in the world with whom we can enter into free trade agreements”.
Brussels and Paris still at odds
Despite the changing global trade context, Paris’ official line hasn’t yet changed much. France calls for the draft deal – which was politically concluded in December after 25 years of negotiations – to be reopened to include stronger protections for EU farmers.
That’s not on the table in Brussels, however. When asked on Monday about the possibility of renegotiating the agreement, Olof Gill, the Commission spokesperson for trade, replied with a categorical “no”.
After finalising the legal drafting and formal translations into the EU’s 24 official languages, the text should be presented to Council and Parliament “before the end of summer”, Gill added.
French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard’s office said "there has been no change in position" in Paris, but said Genevard has discussed the issue with her Polish counterpart – who has also opposed the deal as it stands – and plans to hold discussions soon with Italian and Austrian representatives as well.
