EU renews talks in Brussels after Venezuela detention operation
The European Union is renewing internal negotiations over a free trade agreement with five South American nations neighboring Venezuela, a week after the United States’ raid in Venezuela to detain President Nicolás Maduro, the Associated Press reported. Ministers of Agriculture from across the EU’s 27 countries met in Brussels on Wednesday, in part to discuss protecting farmers while also pursuing the economic and geopolitical benefits of a trade deal with Mercosur.
After the meeting, the EU’s trade negotiator Maroš Šefčovič said the deal would increase EU agrifood exports by up to 50%. He called it “It’s a landmark one. This is the biggest free trade agreement we ever negotiated,” and said EU trading partners value the EU for “credibility,” adding that the bloc must “safeguard this priceless currency by remaining a trusted and reliable trading partner.”
Šefčovič said negotiations over Mercosur would continue on Friday. The report said there is speculation the deal could be signed in Paraguay on Jan. 12.
France opposition derailed previous effort
In December, fierce opposition from France derailed the deal and forced European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to scrap a trip to Brazil where top EU officials had hoped to sign the agreement after 26 years of negotiations, AP reported.
The report said Italy is seen as the linchpin of the deal. If Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni joins supporters led by Germany, the agreement could pass over objections of France and Poland, AP said. Meloni, it added, posted on X on Tuesday that she welcomed von der Leyen’s proposal to fast-track funds to farmers, but did not promise crucial backing to the deal.
Scope of the Mercosur agreement and planned tariff removals
AP described the agreement as covering a market of 780 million people and about a quarter of the globe’s gross domestic product. The report said it would progressively remove duties on almost all goods traded between the two blocs, setting up what it described as a counterpoint in South America to the Trump administration’s moves in Venezuela and its threats across the region.
The EU is also seeking new trade ties amid commercial tensions with the U.S. and China, and the December delay was seen as diminishing the EU’s negotiating credibility, the report said.
Macron and France seek safeguards, warn of sector threats
AP reported that French President Emmanuel Macron led opposition to the deal and that he sees it as fueling a surging far right. His centrist government has demanded safeguards, including monitoring and stopping large economic disruption in the EU, increased regulations in Mercosur countries such as pesticide restrictions, and more inspections of imports at EU ports.
French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard reiterated Wednesday that France opposes the deal, saying it threatens sectors including beef, chicken, sugar, ethanol and honey. “As long as the combat is not over, nothing is lost,” Genevard told France Info, referring to the ongoing negotiations.
She said that if the EU Commission signs the deal on Jan. 12, it would be debated at the European Parliament, adding: “There’s no guarantee the deal will be approved by the European Parliament.” Genevard also acknowledged Italy “will likely” approve the deal.
Safeguards inside EU talks; South American leaders proceed
Šefčovič said internal negotiations had produced new safeguards, including “semiautomatic triggering thresholds” that would snap into place if Mercosur imports are found to be deeply undercutting EU products.
The report also said recent political tensions within Mercosur—particularly between Argentina’s far-right President Javier Milei and Brazil’s center-left Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva—have not prevented South American leaders from pursuing an alliance with Europe they expect to benefit their agricultural sectors.
Venezuela was in Mercosur until 2016, when the trade bloc suspended its membership, a move criticized by Venezuela’s new prime minister Delcy Rodríguez, then the foreign minister, AP reported.
This story includes contributions by Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Giada Zampano in Rome.