European Parliament elections are scheduled for next June, so the European Commission faced with growing protests from farmers and their marches on some of the main cities, Berlin, France and Brussels, has in response proposed concessions on climate and environmental measures.
Brazil's agricultural competitiveness is a concern to countries and trade blocks negotiating agreements with Brazil, according to ambassador Paulo Estivallet de Mesquita, head of the Economics Department of the country's Ministry of Foreign Relations (MRE).
President Dilma Rousseff claimed before the Brazil's farmers lobby that the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is stalled and is not fulfilled because of the 'resistance' from several European countries, and specifically named France, Hungary and Ireland.
European Parliament lawmakers Marian Harkin and Pat The Cope Gallagher have issued strong warnings of soundings coming from Europe of a potential Mercosur trade deal, particularly European Commission President Barroso intention of having the agreement signed before he steps down from office.
Dairy farmers sprayed thousands of litres of fresh milk at the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday in protest at what they say are excessive milk quotas and prices below the cost of production.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota and his visiting German counterpart Guido Westerwelle on Monday called for signing a free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American trade bloc Mercosur.
European Union farmers could suffer losses ranking from one to three billion Euros if a trade agreement is finally agreed with Mercosur according to a European Commission evaluation paper on the impact.
Mercosur/European sixth round of negotiations to reach a wide ranging cooperation and trade agreement took off Monday in Brussels, but rather timidly with no immediate prospects of an exchange of proposals for market access.
The European Union has published its long-awaited budget, which will see spending on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) frozen for the next seven years and make 30% of direct support conditional on ‘greening’.
French president Nicholas Sarkozy stressed over the weekend he would not accept an European Union-Mercosur trade agreement that could mean a loss of income for European farmers.