6 ms·

EU countries green light Mercosur free trade deal

30 points by TechTechTech 8mo ago

oldpersonintx 8mo ago
[dead]
like_any_other 8mo ago
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/french-farmers-paris-protest-eu-mercosur-trade-deal https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/french-farmers... has more (but still very little) background on why EU farmers dislike the deal: because it opens EU to agricultural imports, but doesn't require those imports to meet the same standards EU farmers are held to. The Guardian article mentions allowing imports of crops grown with pesticides that are banned in the EU. Basically sabotaging EU farming. There are probably other double standards, but I can only speculate, because the quality of reporting is abysmal. The Guardian gives scant specifics, DW gives none, just meaningless rhetoric like "bases that are too outdated" or "hails 'milestone' agreement".
- clickety_clack 8mo ago
  I don’t know why you are being downvoted, any small business owner would be mightily annoyed if they had to follow standards that free trade imports do not have to follow. European farming has extremely stringent limits and requirements for food production that are expensive to follow, and not shared with the countries that the deal is being done with.
- hermanzegerman 8mo ago
  Except that is wrong, and your article doesn't back up your point Any product entering the EU market must comply with the EU’s stringent food safety standards, the agreement does not change that https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/mercosur/eu-mercosur-agreement/factsheet-eu-mercosur-partnership-agreement_en https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-cou... You can also read the whole agreement Online https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/mercosur/eu-mercosur-agreement/text-agreement_en https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-cou...
  - like_any_other 8mo ago
    From my article: [France] also sought [but failed to get] permission to ban imports of crops grown with pesticides, which are banned in the EU. So foreign farmers are permitted farming practices forbidden to EU farmers. And now get to compete in the same market.
    - blell 8mo ago
      What’s even worse is that even though France voted against, they will have to receive the imports anyway. This kind of stuff only grows discontent. The EU desires to kill itself I guess.
      - hermanzegerman 8mo ago
        You can't work out sensible deals, if a single country can throw a wrench into the wheel. A Union that works is better than one, which is in a permanent gridlock 21 Countries voted for it, 5 Countries against it For things like these agreements you need a majority of 55% of the states which represent at least 65% of the EU Population.
        blell 8mo ago
        When the EU inevitably collapses because of this undemocratic behaviour, let’s see what’s sensible.
        philippgerard 8mo ago
        How is a majority vote (of both states and represented population) and a parliamentary vote undemocratic?
        blell 8mo ago
        How is someone from across the continent voting to destroy your agricultural sector democratic?
testing22321 8mo ago
Here we see the world just moving on from the insanity that is the US. Everyone else doesn’t actually need to deal with the mafia like tactics and uncertainty.
- blell 8mo ago
  This has been in the works since 1999.
  - Bombthecat 8mo ago
    I guess USA was the reason they finished now.
barelysapient 8mo ago
“Free Trade” is just nice naming veneer for ongoing exploitation of the lower classes. Rich countries get richer, poor countries stay poor.
- mc32 8mo ago
  They aren’t forced to sign up, so they must see some upside in order to sign. Unless the implication is there is some corruption where people are selling their countries out for personal gain.
  - barelysapient 8mo ago
    Well, the poor aren't calling the shots in most countries. Its the elite. Those in the ruling party and their friends. In terms of improving conditions for the poorest decile, its a bad deal. This is why we're seeing so much wealth concentrated with Musk, Bezos, Ma, Bernard Arnault, etc. And for those in the top 20-30% economically, a fair deal too. The poor weren't forced to sign up. They're too economically illiterate to understand what's happening. And even if they did understand, they're not empowered to alter the outcome--even in democratic countries. It takes money to steer policy. Or a revolution.
StopDisinfo910 8mo ago
Very sad day for the EU during an already very sad period. First, this vote by the commission is a mockery of the EU own rule. The commission is not competent for comprehensive deal mixing trade and cooperation and splitting the deal like they have done at behest of Germany is a disgrace and likely illegal. I hope and fully expect the ECJ to strike this down. Second the content of the deal is completely outdated. No mirror close while the EU tightened their own rules so much is insane. The alleged safe guards are completely insuffisant. We are basically saying it's ok for a foreign sellers to do things we ban here. It's even more insane when you consider that it's Bayer actually selling the banned pesticides and they are amongst the companies benefiting the most from the deal. Third the market we are supposedly opening to Europe have already moved on. European automakers already have factories in the Mercosur so exports won't move. The only things which will change is how expensive it is to ship parts so the deal is basically lining up the margins of auto companies with no local job increase. That leaves pharmaceutical and industrial machineries but even there Europe is quickly losing ground to China and India. The commission knows that and pivoted into pretending the deal is actually about securing source of raw materials like lithium from Argentina but ironically the main consumers of this lithium in Europe will be Chinese companies factories in Hungary. We are destroying the livelihood of our farmers, a fully local part of the economy, to help China. Fourth the deal affects various countries in a massively unequal way with clear losers and counties which incorrectly think they win. I can't stop noticing that it's always the same country blocking common investments, blocking transfers, using the common currency and internal devaluation to prop up its exports at the expense of its neighbors, killing common procurement to try to favour its own industrial base, currently trying to destroy our space industry so moneys go to its startup. So much for the supposed solidarity I guess. There is very little union in the so called European Union.
- lolive 8mo ago
  No need to go to Gemini, you have said it all.

30 points by TechTechTech 8mo ago

[dead]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/french-farmers-paris-protest-eu-mercosur-trade-deal https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/french-farmers... has more (but still very little) background on why EU farmers dislike the deal: because it opens EU to agricultural imports, but doesn't require those imports to meet the same standards EU farmers are held to. The Guardian article mentions allowing imports of crops grown with pesticides that are banned in the EU. Basically sabotaging EU farming. There are probably other double standards, but I can only speculate, because the quality of reporting is abysmal. The Guardian gives scant specifics, DW gives none, just meaningless rhetoric like "bases that are too outdated" or "hails 'milestone' agreement".

clickety_clack 8mo ago
I don’t know why you are being downvoted, any small business owner would be mightily annoyed if they had to follow standards that free trade imports do not have to follow. European farming has extremely stringent limits and requirements for food production that are expensive to follow, and not shared with the countries that the deal is being done with.
hermanzegerman 8mo ago
Except that is wrong, and your article doesn't back up your point Any product entering the EU market must comply with the EU’s stringent food safety standards, the agreement does not change that https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/mercosur/eu-mercosur-agreement/factsheet-eu-mercosur-partnership-agreement_en https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-cou... You can also read the whole agreement Online https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/mercosur/eu-mercosur-agreement/text-agreement_en https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-relationships-cou...
- like_any_other 8mo ago
  From my article: [France] also sought [but failed to get] permission to ban imports of crops grown with pesticides, which are banned in the EU. So foreign farmers are permitted farming practices forbidden to EU farmers. And now get to compete in the same market.
  - blell 8mo ago
    What’s even worse is that even though France voted against, they will have to receive the imports anyway. This kind of stuff only grows discontent. The EU desires to kill itself I guess.
    - hermanzegerman 8mo ago
      You can't work out sensible deals, if a single country can throw a wrench into the wheel. A Union that works is better than one, which is in a permanent gridlock 21 Countries voted for it, 5 Countries against it For things like these agreements you need a majority of 55% of the states which represent at least 65% of the EU Population.
      - blell 8mo ago
        When the EU inevitably collapses because of this undemocratic behaviour, let’s see what’s sensible.
        philippgerard 8mo ago
        How is a majority vote (of both states and represented population) and a parliamentary vote undemocratic?
        blell 8mo ago
        How is someone from across the continent voting to destroy your agricultural sector democratic?

testing22321 8mo ago

Here we see the world just moving on from the insanity that is the US. Everyone else doesn’t actually need to deal with the mafia like tactics and uncertainty.

blell 8mo ago
This has been in the works since 1999.
- Bombthecat 8mo ago
  I guess USA was the reason they finished now.

barelysapient 8mo ago

“Free Trade” is just nice naming veneer for ongoing exploitation of the lower classes. Rich countries get richer, poor countries stay poor.

mc32 8mo ago
They aren’t forced to sign up, so they must see some upside in order to sign. Unless the implication is there is some corruption where people are selling their countries out for personal gain.
- barelysapient 8mo ago
  Well, the poor aren't calling the shots in most countries. Its the elite. Those in the ruling party and their friends. In terms of improving conditions for the poorest decile, its a bad deal. This is why we're seeing so much wealth concentrated with Musk, Bezos, Ma, Bernard Arnault, etc. And for those in the top 20-30% economically, a fair deal too. The poor weren't forced to sign up. They're too economically illiterate to understand what's happening. And even if they did understand, they're not empowered to alter the outcome--even in democratic countries. It takes money to steer policy. Or a revolution.

StopDisinfo910 8mo ago

Very sad day for the EU during an already very sad period. First, this vote by the commission is a mockery of the EU own rule. The commission is not competent for comprehensive deal mixing trade and cooperation and splitting the deal like they have done at behest of Germany is a disgrace and likely illegal. I hope and fully expect the ECJ to strike this down. Second the content of the deal is completely outdated. No mirror close while the EU tightened their own rules so much is insane. The alleged safe guards are completely insuffisant. We are basically saying it's ok for a foreign sellers to do things we ban here. It's even more insane when you consider that it's Bayer actually selling the banned pesticides and they are amongst the companies benefiting the most from the deal. Third the market we are supposedly opening to Europe have already moved on. European automakers already have factories in the Mercosur so exports won't move. The only things which will change is how expensive it is to ship parts so the deal is basically lining up the margins of auto companies with no local job increase. That leaves pharmaceutical and industrial machineries but even there Europe is quickly losing ground to China and India. The commission knows that and pivoted into pretending the deal is actually about securing source of raw materials like lithium from Argentina but ironically the main consumers of this lithium in Europe will be Chinese companies factories in Hungary. We are destroying the livelihood of our farmers, a fully local part of the economy, to help China. Fourth the deal affects various countries in a massively unequal way with clear losers and counties which incorrectly think they win. I can't stop noticing that it's always the same country blocking common investments, blocking transfers, using the common currency and internal devaluation to prop up its exports at the expense of its neighbors, killing common procurement to try to favour its own industrial base, currently trying to destroy our space industry so moneys go to its startup. So much for the supposed solidarity I guess. There is very little union in the so called European Union.

lolive 8mo ago
No need to go to Gemini, you have said it all.