The agreement is expected to result in a significant increase in Brazilian beef exports to all EU countries. [8] [14] Under the agreement, the EU will open its markets to a quota of up to 99,000 tonnes of beef per year, at a preferential rate of 7.5% inches. [5] Farmers across the EU oppose it, especially small farmers who fear being underestimated in terms of prices. [5] The COPA-COGECA union, which represents 23 million farmers in the EU, warned that the agreement “will go down in history as a very dark moment”. [5] The Irish Farmers` Association condemned the agreement as a “shameful and weak sell-off”. [15] It is extremely worrying that there is enormous pressure on the approval of this agreement by certain agricultural sectors (and within governments, for example, in the case of Brazil, by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade, whose interests prevail), while Mercosur governments have not even had the opportunity to assess the EU`s proposals at the global level. The EU says that asymmetrical treatment is maintained in certain sectors such as textiles and is not on the agenda. We are very concerned about the unbalanced nature of these negotiations and the fact that our governments do not address such imbalances, even though they have strongly defended this principle in the FTAA negotiations and do not accept any negotiations unless the differences in economic, industrial and commercial development are well taken into account. EU Trade Commissioner discusses MERCOSUR-Uruguay trade negotiations in Paraguay and Uruguay The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur is a free trade agreement on which the EU and Mercosur have agreed on the principle in 2019. [1] The agreement was announced on 28 June at the G20 summit in Osaka 2019, after 20 years of negotiations. [1] [2] Although there are convergences in principle, the final texts have not yet been finalised, signed or ratified and have therefore not entered into force. If ratified, this would be the largest trade agreement concluded by both the EU and Mercosur with regard to the citizens concerned. [2] The trade agreement is part of a broader association agreement between the two blocs.

In addition to trade, the Association Agreement would also address cooperation and political dialogue. Negotiations on both sides ended on 18 June 2020. [3] In addition, during these six months, Mercosur has also made progress in its discussions with Canada, South Korea and Singapore, with which the South American bloc intends to continue to conclude trade agreements, Cano added. Social movements and civil society organisations in the region that have opposed the free trade agreement want to make public our opposition to this harmful agreement with the EU.