Fear of French producers of meat, chicken and corn from Mercosur

"We are getting closer"said Malmström about the agreement, which has been under discussion for more than 20 years, and whose last round of talks last March was, he said, "a success". According to the AFP news agency, there is "a wave of panic" in the area.

The main French agricultural union, the National Federation of Agricultural Trade Unions (FNSEA), immediately reacted in a statement in which it warned against "the catastrophic consequences that this agreement would have on European and French agriculture".

"Brazil and Argentina, where production models are subject to environmental, social and phytosanitary standards much lower than those in force in France, benefit from very competitive production costs", says the FNSEA.

For this federation, French producers, who already have difficulties because of a deep crisis in the sector "will not survive long against mbadive imports of sugar, beef, chicken or maize from these countries".

Malmström has not ruled out that the current talks are going from negotiators to politicians in July. "It's possible", he said.

However, he moderated "optimism" remember that "Almost five years ago, I said we were about to achieve it."

Until now, one of the biggest obstacles to signing has been the opening of the European meat market of the South American bloc, especially in France.

The Federation of Cattle Producers (FNB), which represents the 82,000 French livestock breeders, is very concerned that the agreement under discussion It provides that the four Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) will export 99 000 tonnes of beef annually to Europe without customs duty..

That would be added to the 270,000 tonnes of beef that these countries can export to Europe, says the federation.

Their concern is also that they believe that health standards in these countries are not as demanding as in Europe and denounce the fact that South American producers resort to the use of growth hormones, antibiotics and banned pesticides. in the EU.

"We want to alert future MEPs (…) that this agreement should not be accepted under any circumstances", invited Bruno Dufayet, president of the FNB, at a press conference in Paris, a few days before the elections that will renew the European Parliament.

According to this federation, meat, which is a commodity "sensitive" it should be "Removed" full of all free trade agreements being negotiated in the European Union.

The concern about the imminence of this agreement is not limited to France. The coordinator of the Spanish Farmers and Livestock Producers Organizations (COAG) also warns of the losses that this deal with Mercosur would entail throughout the European bloc.

"Bilateral agreement with Mercosur would have a catastrophic impact on the EU agricultural sector", indicate the sources of COAG.

In a study conducted by this organization in 2017, they calculated that 78,000 tonnes of cattle (provided for in the agreement) would represent a total of 2 million suckler cows, more than the total number of cattle heads. Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden together

"Nearly 80% of the beef imported by the European Union comes from Mercosur (…), so we estimate that no additional quota is required free of customs duties", added these sources.

The EU countries and the Mercosur countries have been trying since 1999 to create a free trade area of ​​some 760 million people on both sides of the Atlantic. The discussions were blocked for years after the failure of an exchange of offers in 2004 and resumed in 2010.