Dec 21, 2025
3 min read
The problem is that the agreement with Mercosur has become a symbol of all the ills of farmers and peasants.
In a column I published a few weeks ago, I explained the EU-Mercosur agreement - after 26 years of negotiations - with the idea developed by Erwin Schrödinger of a cat locked in a closed box, which we do not know whether it is alive or dead due to the influence of external substances contained in the same container.From what I've been able to understand (I'm literate) it's like it's a movie where Marvel has a movie.The multiverse takes place, the cat alive and dead, until we open the box because quantum mechanics will allow the existence of parallel universes.Although the purpose of the experiment is to address the paradox of quantum mechanics, it helps distinguish an agent that observes and initiates an event from an action: in this case, opening the box.
In that column - sorry for introducing myself - I said "the agreement is yet another case of a cat locked in a box that no one dares to open to find out if it is alive or dead."But this week the box was opened and the lack of vital signs suggested it was medically dead.However, according to the initiative that distinguishes the political and knowledge organizations of Europe that encouraged him, these areas are quick to show that there are still many countries where the alliance can live.
So much so that there is also a dimension of pluralism characterized by paternalism towards Latin America and whose high priest pontificates in favor of integration with the same fanatical faith as the missionaries in the principles of colonial administration.However, in this case, it is justified for Latin America to associate itself with the EU because of the values we share, which can thus become the mortar of the theoretical foundation.Thus, the EU-Mercosur biregional agreement is part of the “should” of the relationship, which is complemented by the protection that the Old World gives to the New on its path towards the three transitions that Latin America must accomplish for its salvation and its humanity.
I have no doubt that a good trade agreement would benefit all parties.But the fact that it has not yet been signed after more than 25 years of negotiations is proof that it is not so long until it satisfies all parties.In this sense, it should be recognized that the French government has made it clear, actively or passively, that it does not like the current agreement, and has warned that it will do everything to prevent its signing.
Apart from the fact that this attitude may seem selfish to me or, at the same time, I think that he is brave enough to put the interests of his citizens first, I am surprised that other actors did not take France's warning seriously, submitted the final text to the Security Council without its consent and exposed themselves in front of potential political and business partners, because there is no doubt that this whole dispute damages the credibility of the EU. As the foreign ministers of Mercosur members already pointed out at the meeting held this weekend.
Expanding on the precedent, the fact that French demands for the protection of agriculture have not been met is all the more shocking given that it is a sector with great mobilizing capacity, which above all succeeds in having its demands recognized as legitimate by public opinion, parties and governments for fear of facing a powerful enemy.I just want to remind you that we are talking about the same people who attacked trucks with Spanish products at the border, i.e.j.protected by Union treaties that guarantee the free movement of goods.
Now, what is unacceptable is that the EU's entire negotiating position depends on farmers and their concerns, many of which are unfounded or exaggerated, others nuanced.For example, Mercosur's lax phytosanitary and labor regulations mean that Europe is flooded with cheap food, which is said to be one of the dangers.But what remains silent is that the European market lacks information and that we already eat most of our imported food.Read about the origins of supermarket products and understand that products from Europe are already an exception.Yesterday, when I went to the supermarket to prepare my children's dinner, I took the opportunity to work in the fields.Chestnuts and onions from Chile, canned asparagus and pine nuts from China, fresh fruit from Peru, nuts from Tunisia, potatoes from Israel, and beans from Morocco, just to name a few.
European agriculture has other problems, such as the lack of a labor market, an aging workforce, overregulation, lack of infrastructure or an oligopoly of distribution chains with price policies that harm farmers.In my district of Soria, three people who work in agriculture and/or land with livestock are on average 60 years old and have to manage their relations with regulatory and supervisory authorities through an unfriendly electronic administration.Without a deal with Mercosur, Europe already has a problem with agriculture, and I honestly don't believe a trade deal will make it worse enough to stop it, even if there are mechanisms to protect vulnerable sectors.
For farmers and ranchers, the agreement with Mercosur became a symbol of all their evils.Even though the trade agreement has little to do with their current reality.”
Added to this are socio-cultural factors, such as fewer and fewer people knowing how to cook and therefore narrowing the spectrum of things they buy;or a change in food habits, which often reduces demand for certain products in favor of non-local others.In the cool cafes that have opened up all over Madrid, the star dish of breakfasts - now called brunch - is avocado toast or yogurt decorated with fruit, usually tropical, so that their colors shine in photos taken by diners to share on networks.This means products like hams or other pork products will lose demand.Not to mention meat like lamb: one of the reasons why flocks disappear, everyone laments when summer fires and socialists become experts in silvopastoral.With talks of making farmers a kind of NGO, they never stop thinking that the countryside is an economic activity where they live and earn income.I ask them: When was the last time you bought lamb meat?
Looking at this panorama, I have a feeling that the agreement with Mercosur has become a symbol of all their ills for farmers and ranchers, even though the trade agreement has little to do with their current reality.The problem is that, after becoming a symbol, it will be very difficult for them to change their position.In this case, resorting to pedagogy will also be complicated, because, if we have ended up in this situation, it is precisely because the public, the state and the European authorities have no sympathy at all for their life model and their way of working.
I honestly don't know how they're going to come to an agreement at this point in January.I hope that the corruption that comes from this long development will at least make the EU and partner countries take seriously all the people working in this sector and realize that they are angry above all and this will make them to destroy any process.
Francisco Sanchez is the director of the Ibero-American Institute of the University of Salamanca.Here you can read all the articles published by him at www.elindependiente.com.
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