(Adnkronos) – Italy on Tuesday urged the European Union to forge ahead with its mammoth trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur, which it should be possible to sign “within a few months” once safeguard and quality control measures are approved to ease farmers’ concerns.
‘We must speed up the signing of the Mercosur agreement. There are issues to be resolved concerning the agricultural sector,” said Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani in an interview with journalist Bruno Vespa.
“I believe that within a few months the problems can be solved and the agreement signed,” Tajani stated.
A committee vote on the safeguard measures package in the European Parliament on 8 December will be followed by a 16 December vote in the plenary.
If MEPs back the plan, EU member states are expected to proceed with a qualified majority vote on the full trade agreement between 16 and 19 December ahead of a Mercosur summit in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil on 20 December, where European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is expected to fly for a formal signing ceremony.
The trade pact would open the door for increased EU exports of cars, machinery, wine and spirits to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
In exchange, Europe would slash tariffs on goods such as South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soya – prospect that has sparked concern in several European farming sectors, especially in France.
The EU and Mercosur – which groups Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – agreed the EU’s largest ever trade accord last December, some 25 years after negotiations were launched.
