The text is already almost unanimous against him, well before its entry into force. On Friday, the European Union and the four Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) reached an agreement on a major free trade treaty, ending an old sea serpent, which has been in negotiations for 20 years.
READ ALSO - Trade: What's in the historic agreement between the EU and Mercosur?
Problem, the text has already met with strong opposition, both from NGOs and farmers, through a French political class in which even the majority is divided. Europe 1 takes stock of the reasons for these tensions.
Farmers fear "unfair competition"
It has been several months, even years, that farmers are sounding the alarm. Already more than a year ago, on the eve of the 2018 Agricultural Show, the issue of the treaty was at the heart of the protests of professionals worried about the "sacrifice of the cattle industry".
The agreement, which plans to remove 92% of EU tariffs on South American goods arriving on its soil, will allow the four Mercosur countries to export 99,000 tonnes of beef at a preferential rate. 7.5% (but also about 180,000 tonnes of sugar and 100,000 tonnes of poultry in addition to the volumes already authorized).
But for farmers, both French and European, this opening up of the market puts unfair competition in place. Highly dependent on European subsidies, pastoralists, who are often organized into extensive, low-income, family farms, feel that they are not strong enough to fight against the "meat factories" of their South American competitors.
Competition is all the more unfair as the Mercosur countries are not subject to the same health standards as their European counterparts. "How can the government say to French agriculture: 'go upmarket, fewer antibiotics, less phytosanitary, more traceability' and open the floodgates to a country that has been illustrated by health scandals to loud impact? ", denounces the president of the FNSEA Christiane Lambert.
"In the specification label, we forbid to feed our animals with GMOs, we are obliged to produce more than 80% of their food on our farm, we use antibiotics only to treat animals, not to activate their growth, and of course, one is prohibited from using hormones ", illustrates Jean-Pierre Bonnet, a breeder of Haute-Vienne, at the microphone of France Bleu. "And there will come Latin American meat, which is systematically hormonized".
Aware of the growers' grumbling, European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan promised them "financial aid" of up to one billion euros "in the event of market disruption".
Brazil: NGOs worry about the environment and human rights
Another issue of concern, particularly on the side of NGOs: the question of the defense of the environment and respect for human rights. Fears amplified since the coming to power in Brazil of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, even though Emmanuel Macron said he obtained from his counterpart that he maintains his country in the Paris Agreement. Since its inauguration in January, 239 pesticides have been approved according to Le Monde , 31% of which are banned in the EU, according to Greenpeace. In addition, Bolsonaro has never made a secret of its desire to intensify the exploitation of the Amazon, as well as its very repressive policy against minorities.
"Shame on the Commission to make a deal with Jair Bolsonaro who is attacking the Democrats, LLGBTs and women in the Amazon", tweeted Yannick Jadot, leader of the French ecologists in the European elections, while in Le Monde , the former minister of the ecological transition Nicolas Hulot denounces "a completely antinomic agreement" with the climatic ambitions of France.
Shame on the @EU_Commission to make a deal with @jairbolsonaro who is attacking Democrats, LGBTs and women in the Amazon and has approved 239 pesticides since January. @GreensEP will fight relentlessly to block it https://t.co/PSrtFFBTJh
- Yannick Jadot (@yjadot) June 28, 2019In France, a stir in the majority
In France, the agreement reached by the EU has provoked criticism of the entire opposition, from the RN who castigates an "agreement of shame", to LFI denouncing a "death of our agriculture", passing through LR, whose group boss in the Senate Bruno Retailleau regrets in a statement "a new stab in the back of the breeders.
More surprisingly, since Friday, discordant voices are heard within the majority. A farmer by profession, Jean-Baptiste Moreau, MP, challenges Le Monde "to import some of the most harmful agricultural products in the world".
War on the European Renaissance list, Jeremy Decerle, former president of Young Farmers, he believes that "consumers and farmers deserve more respect." And to announce: "as a MEP, I can not approve it".
The executive and the cadors of the majority therefore remain cautious. Monday morning, on RTL, the number 2 of the Renaissance list Pascal Canfin warned that the vote of MEPs LREM in favor of the agreement was "not acquired". On Saturday, the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron welcomed a "good agreement", but said "vigilant" while saying want to launch an "independent evaluation" of the pact.
What future for the text? The ratification of the compromise remains uncertain. The text must first be translated into a legal text, which could take several months. Then the agreement will have to be unanimously approved by the Member States. Then it will have to be signed by the EU, before being validated by MEPs. Only then will it have to be approved in each Member State in the national parliaments.