BRUSSELS: A majority of European Union countries gave the go-ahead on Friday for the bloc to sign the Mercosur free trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay after decades of negotiations.
At a meeting of representatives from the 27 EU countries in Brussels, a sufficient number of participants agreed to the planned signing of the deal, diplomatic sources said.
The new free trade zone, with more than 700 million inhabitants, will be the largest of its kind in the world, according to the European Commission. The controversial deal has been in the making for more than 25 years.
The final agreement was made possible by last-minute concessions to Europe's agricultural lobby, which views competition from the four countries — all members of the wider Mercosur South American trading bloc — as a threat to European farmers.
In South America, agricultural products such as beef can be produced more cheaply than in Europe.
The agreement was initially supposed to be signed in Brazil in December. However, the necessary majority of EU member states was not achieved at that time because Italy tied its approval to further support commitments for European farmers.
For the deal to pass it required a so-called qualified majority, meaning at least 15 of the EU's 27 states representing 65 per cent of the bloc's population must back it.
Italy's approval was necessary because two other populous EU countries, France and Poland, oppose the agreement in its current form.
German industry had been pushing for years for the deal to be concluded.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed Friday's breakthrough as a "milestone in European trade policy and an important signal of our strategic sovereignty and ability to act".
"With this agreement, we are strengthening our economy and trade relations with our partners in South America — that is good for Germany and for Europe", he added.
The commission estimates that the agreement could increase annual EU exports to South America by up to 39 per cent, or around $57 billion — supporting more than 440,000 jobs throughout Europe. — dpa
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