
European Union Agriculture ministers will be debating Monday on the impact of Mercosur/EU trade negotiations and the overall EU farm sector competitiveness.

The challenge of re-launching European Union/Mercosur trade talks, figures pre-eminently in the agenda of the EU/Latam-Caribbean leaders’ summit scheduled to begin Monday in Spain that also happens to hold the EU rotating presidential chair.

The European Union and Mercosur will officially re-launch negotiations for a trade and cooperation agreement they have been discussing since 1999 in the coming Madrid summit, in spite of fears about their farm sectors from several European countries, said the EU representative for Paraguay and Uruguay.

Ten European countries, fearing the impact on agriculture, are openly challenging the EU decision to resume trade talks with Mercosur which is to be officially announced next Monday when the opening of the Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union Summit in Spain.

Mercosur rice planters will be meeting to decide a Brazilian proposal to increase the common external tariff thus preventing the introduction of rice from third countries, precisely this year when Brazil’s crop is expected to be below average.

France and six other countries expressed concern before the European Union about the competition consequences for the farm sector in the event of an agreement with Mercosur.

French resistance to the resumption of Mercosur European Union trade talks caused great disappointment among the block’s members, but Brazil believes it has a strong bargaining chip for a greater opening of the European agriculture market: the several billions US dollars fighter planes contract for the Brazilian Air Force.

Leading Brazilian presidential candidate José Serra said it was “very good” for his campaign that Venezuela’s leader Hugo Chávez should openly support his main competitor incumbent hopeful Dilma Rousseff and again warned about the shortcomings of Mercosur.

After the European Commission proposed the resumption of negotiations with Mercosur, France released a warning message to the European Commission and assured that—if the talks are reactivated—both French and European agriculture would be in danger of a potential damage.

France’s main farmers’ organization, FNSEA, called Wednesday on President Nicolas Sarkozy to pressure upon the European Community to impede the re-launching of negotiations for a free trade agreement with Mercosur