A key vote to confirm a deal on new safeguards with Mercosur countries has been delayed yet again, after the Danish presidency on Monday cancelled a meeting of EU ambassadors scheduled for the afternoon.
The move came only hours before the meeting was due to kick off. It had been pencilled in since Friday as a final attempt to settle Mercosur discussions, including rubber-stamping a safeguard designed to protect EU farmers from potential market distortions linked to imports from agri-powerhouses Brazil and Argentina.
The European Parliament and EU countries clinched a political deal last week on a more detailed version of the safeguards linked to the EU’s trade pact with the Southern American bloc.
The mechanism covers products considered “sensitive,” including poultry, beef, rice, honey, eggs, garlic, ethanol, sugar and citrus, and sets out the conditions under which a safeguard allowing the suspension of trade benefits can be triggered.
Two diplomats said the meeting was cancelled because there wasn’t the necessary support – at least 15 members out of 27, representing 65% of the bloc’s population – to greenlight the safeguard.
The safeguard is a key prerequisite for countries like Italy and France to eventually support the wider trade agreement, alongside reinforced food import controls and mirror clauses.
A vote was already suspended twice last week, on Wednesday and Friday. After discussions on Wednesday, an EU diplomat told Euractiv that Poland, Italy, and France had been reluctant to back the safeguard.
In addition to the safeguard, France, Italy, Poland, and other countries that are hesitant to endorse the trade agreement are also seeking concessions from the Commission to increase the share of the post-2027 EU budget allocated to agriculture.
The EU is now eyeing a final signing of the overall trade agreement, which also needs to be backed by EU countries, in Paraguay on 12 January, Euractiv reported.
The vote on the safeguard would be pushed into the next year, since no ambassador meetings are planned before 9 January.
“As the incoming Cyprus presidency, we stand ready to take work forward once we take up the presidency of the Council, ” a Cypriot diplomat told Euractiv.
This article has been updated.
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