\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on Thursday that the signing of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which was scheduled for this Saturday in Brazil, will finally be postponed until January 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This decision was made by European leaders gathered in Brussels after they failed to reach a qualified majority to move forward. Opposition to the signing is being led by Italy and France, as the two countries are looking for more guarantees for their farmers amid fears that they will be undercut by South American products.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We have reached out to our Mercosur partners and agreed to postpone slightly the signature. <\/p>\n
This deal is crucially important for Europe \u2013 economically, diplomatically, and geopolitically.<\/p>\n
It opens new trade and economic opportunities for all our Member States. <\/p>\n
With\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/wqNesX4giH<\/p>\n
\u2014 Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 19, 2025 In a post on X announcing the decision, Van der Leyen called the deal \u201ccrucially important for Europe\u201d and looked to quell concerns voiced from the agricultural sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWith additional checks and safeguards, we have built in all necessary protections for our farmers and our consumers,\u201d her statement read. She offered no additional details as to why the signature was being delayed.<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron also released a statement in the face of the postponement, calling the current text of the deal \u201cunacceptable.\u201d He also listed the demands he intends to \u201ckeep fighting\u201d for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSolid guarantees, reciprocity, controls, and access for our farmers,\u201d he tweeted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Je l’ai dit \u00e0 Bruxelles\u00a0: sur l\u2019accord UE-Mercosur, le texte n’est pas acceptable.<\/p>\n
Nous avons obtenu un report.<\/p>\n
Sauvegarde robuste, r\u00e9ciprocit\u00e9, contr\u00f4les et revenu de nos agriculteurs\u00a0: nous allons continuer de nous battre pour faire respecter ces exigences de bon sens. pic.twitter.com\/vjHCQPR23n<\/p>\n
\u2014 Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 19, 2025 Although France\u2019s opposition to the deal was well known, it was Italy\u2019s last-minute change of heart that solidified opposition to the deal. Speaking to the press, Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni attempted to clarify her stance, saying that her country was ready to sign the agreement as soon as the \u201cnecessary answers\u201d are provided to farmers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The European leader summit took place against the backdrop of massive protests carried out by farmers on the streets of Brussels. According to media outlet France 24, at least 7,000 protestors lit fires, set off fire crackers, and threw potatoes and debris and police cordoning off the area.<\/p>\n
The possibility of a postponement was initially met with frustration in South America, with Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva leading the charge. After news broke that Italy was joining France in its opposition to the deal, Lula said that the agreement would be nixed if it wasn\u2019t signed this weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already warned them. If this is not done now, it won\u2019t happen while I\u2019m president,\u201d Lula told a cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n
His tone, however, seemed to soften on Thursday after speaking to Meloni. \u201c[She] told me that if we are patient for a week, ten days, or a month, Italy will be on board with the agreement,\u201d Lula said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on Thursday that the signing of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which was scheduled for this Saturday in Brazil, will finally be postponed until January 2026.\u00a0 This decision was made by European leaders gathered in Brussels after they failed to reach a qualified […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3012,81,54,4108,3014,59,5736],"tags":[3008,596,183,6043,3011,86,6044],"class_list":["post-19238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-emmanuel-macron","category-international-relations","category-latin-america","category-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva","category-mercosur-eu-free-trade-agreement","category-politics","category-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-international-relations","tag-latin-america","tag-luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva","tag-mercosur-eu-free-trade-agreement","tag-politics","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}