the Italian Minister of Agriculture against the agreement with Mercosur

Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida spoke out on Monday against the proposed free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur in its current form, demanding that Mercosur farmers be subject to the same “obligations” as those of the European Union.

“The EU-Mercosur treaty in its current form is not acceptable,” he said. this Monday afternoon. “We must check in advance the respect by the Mercosur countries of the same obligations that we impose on our farmers in terms of respect for workers’ rights and the environment,” justified this minister who is a member of Fratelli d’Italia, the party of far right led by Giorgia Meloni of whom he is close.

But Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani – head of the conservative Forza Italia party, member of the ruling coalition – was more open: “These are very complex negotiations during which we often stop on details concerning certain sectors which end up blocking the agreement as a whole,” he judged in early October in an interview with CNN Brazil.