Anger of farmers: Macron repeats his opposition to the EU/Mercosur agreement “as it stands” and assures that Javier Milei is not satisfied with the treaty either

President Emmanuel Macron repeated on Sunday that France would not sign “as is” the free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the European Union and Mercosur, the South American single market, assuring that it wanted to defend the interests of French farmers as they resume their demonstrations.

“We cannot ask our farmers to change their practices… and at the same time open our markets” to products that do not respect European standards, declared Emmanuel Macron after an interview with his Argentine counterpart Javier Milei. “France will not sign as it stands” the agreement that the European Union hopes to finalize by the end of the year with Mercosur, he insisted before leaving Buenos Aires to attend the summit of G20 in Brazil.

Paris is not in a position to block the signing of the agreement alone, which the European Commission and other major European countries – Germany, Italy and Spain in particular – are in favor of. Emmanuel Macron nevertheless assured that Javier Milei had confided to him that he was not satisfied with the text currently being negotiated either.