farmer

Italy called on Wednesday in a letter to EU’s Agriculture Commissioner ChristopheHansen to lift the bloc’s carbon border tax in order to ease pressure on fertilizer prices for European farmers. The date for the Mercosur signature is still not clear.

Expectations for Rome to greenlight the trade deal had risen in Brussels after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged on Tuesday to unlock additional funding for farmers to the tune of €45 billion as soon as 2028 in a designed to sway the pivotal support of the Italian government in favour of the deal.

“If in today’s meeting these conditions are certified by the Commission, Italy will support the deal (Mercosur),” Meloni’s agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida told reporters in Brussels.

Italy’s request comes as the Commission convened EU agriculture ministers in Brussels on Wednesday for talks on the future Common Agricultural Policy funding -a key piece of the common budget and highly sensitive to domestic politics – and reciprocity in production standards between Latin America and Europe, a key French demand.

France still opposes the Mercosur deal.

Farmers furious as Mercosur enters final stretch

The Mercosur agreement would create a free-trade area between Latin America, including heavyweight economy Brazil and the EU, cutting tariffs across sectors the board for European companies but also opening market access to Latin America.

Italian farmers, alongside France, Poland and Ireland, fear the deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay will expose them to unfair competition.

Italy’s backing of the deal is essential to reach a qualified majority of member states needed to support it, or a blocking minority as a tiebreaker.

This is a developing story.

Published on 16/12/2025 – 11:09 GMT+1
•Updated
11:34

Austrian MEP Thomas Waitz (The Greens) told Euronews that the European Commission should rethink its budget plans in order to shield EU farmers from the impact of the Mercosur agreement, which could be adopted this week.

Under the Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 budget, funding for the Common Agricultural Policy would fall by 20%. Critics of the Mercosur deal argue it would expose EU farmers to unfair competition, as imports from South American countries could be more competitive on the European market.

“You cannot cut the funds by 20% literally and by 40% if you include inflation and sacrifice the farmers just for the profit of a few national companies or European industry,” Waitz told Euronews.

He said large agribusinesses stand to gain from the agreement, while small and medium-sized farmers would bear the costs.

EU farmers protest deal

The coming days are decisive for the trade pact, concluded in 2024 between the European Commission and Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – to establish a transatlantic free trade zone.

The European Parliament remains sharply divided over the deal. Tuesday will see lawmakers vote on a Commission-backed safeguard clause to monitor potential market disruptions from Mercosur imports, while EU member states are also expected to take a position at the Council in the coming days.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hopes to travel to Latin America on Saturday to sign the agreement in Foz do Iguaçu, on the Argentina–Paraguay border,Euronews has learned.

EU farmers are set to protest on Thursday as national leaders gather for a European summit.

If no agreement is reached beforehand, the issue will be pushed to the top of the summit agenda, with tense negotiations expected.

Full ratification, however, requires the backing of a “qualified majority” of the EU’s 27 member states. France remains firmly opposed and is seeking to delay a Council vote. Hungary, Poland and Austria have also aligned with farmers against the deal.

Ireland and the Netherlands, previously critical of the deal, have yet to clarify their positions. Italian farmers are also voicing opposition, putting pressure on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to declare her stance.

“If we lose them, we lose the rural areas and the ability to supply our population independently with food,” Waitz added.