Overview
- EU ambassadors approved the pact after Italy's late shift, and a signing ceremony is scheduled in Paraguay this weekend with Ursula von der Leyen in attendance.
- France's minority government survived two no-confidence votes prompted by opposition to the agreement after the EU-level go-ahead.
- Farmers staged tractor demonstrations in Paris and regional actions in Germany, while German farmers' leader Joachim Rukwied condemned the agricultural chapter as unbalanced and raised concerns over differing production standards.
- Austrian supermarket groups Spar, Billa/REWE, Lidl and Hofer said they will continue to sell only Austrian fresh meat, rejecting beef and poultry from Mercosur countries.
- The deal phases out tariffs on about 77% of agricultural imports, sets quotas of up to 99,000 tonnes for beef and up to 180,000 tonnes for poultry, includes safeguard triggers, and would remove EU tariffs on processed coffee that Brazil aims to export in higher value-added forms.