Europe: E.U. approves signing of free trade agreement with Mercosur

teleSUR English

On Friday, most European Union countries approved the signing of the largest free trade agreement in the bloc’s history with Mercosur. The decision comes more than 25 years after negotiations began and follows months of disputes to secure support from major member states. Representatives from the 27 EU countries announced their positions, with at least 15 voting in favor, representing 65 percent of the bloc’s population—the threshold required for approval. The agreement was initially set to be signed in Brazil last December, but Italy withheld its support, demanding new measures to protect European farmers.    #teleSUREnglish #Europe #EU #Mercosur #Trade #Economy #Diplomacy

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00:00In other news on Friday, most European Union countries approved the signing of the largest

00:06free trade agreement in the bloc's history with Mercosur.

00:10The decision comes more than 25 years after negotiations began and after months of disputes

00:16to secure the support of the major member states.

00:19Representatives from the 27 EU countries announced their government's positions, with at least

00:2415 of them voting in favor.

00:27This represents 65% of the bloc's total population, which is the threshold required for approval.

00:33The agreement was set to be signed in Brazil in December, however the necessary majority

00:38of member states was not reached at that time, because Italy made this approval conditional

00:43on receiving new support from European farmers.

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