“France has decided to vote against the signing of the agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries.

France is in favor of international trade, but the EU–Mercosur agreement is an agreement of another era, negotiated for too long on overly outdated foundations (1999 mandate).

While trade diversification is necessary, the economic gain of the EU–Mercosur agreement will be limited for French and European growth (+0.05% of EU GDP by 2040 according to the Commission).

It does not justify exposing sensitive agricultural sectors that are essential to our food sovereignty.

Since the announcement of the end of negotiations in December 2024, I have continued to mobilize for a fairer agreement in order to protect our farmers. On this basis, we have obtained concrete advances that must be acknowledged by the European Commission.

We had made three demands, which have evolved in the right direction:

1. We obtained a specific safeguard clause, an “emergency brake” on agricultural imports from Mercosur countries in the event of market destabilization in Europe, which can be activated in the event of only a 5% variation in prices and volumes of imported agricultural products, at the request of a single Member State or representatives of agricultural sectors.

This was a strong demand from agricultural unions. Safeguard measures, including the suspension of imports, can be imposed very quickly.

2. We obtained reciprocity measures on production conditions (mirror measures).

Our producers comply with the most ambitious standards in the world in terms of health, environment, and animal welfare. Imported products must be subject to the same conditions regarding pesticides, animal feed, or the use of antibiotics, so as not to unfairly compete with our farmers.

The Commission announced the implementation of this reciprocity for several pesticide substances that we have just banned in our national territory. This effort must be continued for all pesticides and animal feed.

These advances respond to a long-standing demand from our farmers.

3. There is no food security without controls: we obtained strengthened sanitary controls in Europe and veterinary and phytosanitary audits in third countries, in order to ensure that producers, notably from Mercosur, comply with our rules.

The establishment of a task force at the European Commission on the effectiveness of these controls foreshadows the European sanitary control force that France has long been requesting.

Several of these advances still need to be finalized; France will ensure this.

We have also obtained major commitments from the European Commission, confirmed during the agriculture meeting on January 7 in Brussels:

First, regarding the amount of direct CAP aid in the next multiannual budget of the European Union. An additional €45 billion will be accessible from 2028 onward, in addition to the nearly €294 billion secured for direct agricultural income support.

On this basis, France will have the means to guarantee the maintenance of the current aid envelope in its national agricultural plan until 2034.

Second, regarding fertilizers, there will be no price increase linked to the carbon border tax of the Union.

Despite these undeniable advances, it must be stated that there is a unanimous political rejection of the agreement, as clearly shown by recent debates in the National Assembly and the Senate.

In this context, France will vote against the signing of the agreement.

The signing stage of the agreement does not constitute the end of the story.

I will continue to fight for the full and concrete implementation of the commitments obtained from the European Commission and to protect our farmers.

At the European level, the priority today remains to accelerate our agenda of protection, competitiveness, and investment.”