TRANSCRIPT:
It stops just short of free trade, but the Mercosur agreement between Europe and much of Latin America is one of the most ambitious deals in history.
25 years after it was first conceived, EU Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen is to put pen to paper on the deal on Saturday.
The agreement is for tariffs to be removed from 91 per cent of European exports to the Mercosur bloc, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, over the next 15 years.
Trade is on the label, but Brazilian researcher Dr Lia Vall says this is a deal designed to bolster ties, at a time global alliances including the World Trade Organisation are being undermined by the United States government under President Donald Trump.
“With Trump’s policy favouring unilateralism and showing strong rejection of multilateral institutions, this agreement takes on political significance. First, it shows the possibility of two major blocs reaching a broad trade agreement, not just about trade, demonstrating that cooperation is possible.”
The EU Mercosur Trade Agreement passed the European Parliament last week - a development hailed by Latin American signatories.
The headline exports in question involve farms, cars and minerals.
Current tariffs can be as high as 35 per cent for auto parts and cars or 28 per cent on dairy products.
Removing these tariffs would save approximately $4 billion and are to take effect gradually, with a timeline dependent on the specific product.
Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin says it would promote investment and result in "cheaper and better quality products".
"A win-win situation, that is, cheaper and better quality products. So, wherever it's more competitive, it sells. We are more competitive in the sector, we export; the other is more competitive in another sector, we buy. Society benefits with cheaper and better quality products."
But the deal is not considered a "win-win" by all parties in Europe.
Opposition has been fierce, particularly in the lead-up to the EU Parliament vote.
At the time, Greek farmers said they would be severely hurt by a free trade deal with South American nations.
Many staged blockades with tractors across major motorways, with farmer Vasilis Theodouru condemning the government over what he says is an already-dire situation for the nation's farmers.
“There is a wider problem in all of Europe with the Mercosur program, with what will happen with Ukraine. It is foreseen that products from third world countries will enter Europe and destroy prices of European products, which means that our survival is hanging by a thread.”
Irish, Polish and French farmers followed suit, with the chief concerns including food safety and that the deal would see 99,000 tonnes of cheap beef come from South America.
Dr Vall, who works with Brazilian Economic Institute FGV-IBRE, says that scenario would almost certainly be prevented.
"No trade agreement fully liberalises a country’s commerce - they always preserve more sensitive products. In Europe’s case, those are clearly agricultural products. So while there will be greater market access for meat, which is our main interest, it will never be total.”
The deal would fuel Europe's struggling auto industry, which is predominantly German, with South American countries representing a growth market for cars.
It is important to the bloc's economy and has been struggling under developments including Donald Trump raising tariffs on European imports.
This week, he reiterated his commitment to U-S domestic car manufacturing.
"We want to make them here. And that's what's happening. Everybody's moving here. From Canada, they're coming here. From Mexico, from Japan, from Germany, from all over the world, they are coming here, they're opening up their plants."
On both sides of politics, French politicians have been scathing of the Mercosur deal, this week criticising President Emmanuel Macron for not fighting harder to prevent it.
Mathilde Panot of the Unbowed Party is in rare agreement with her conservative party counterparts in this assessment.
"So, officially, France voted against the European Union-Mercosur agreement. But this superficial opposition doesn't make anyone forget eight years of participation in the negotiations during which Emmanuel Macron did nothing to prevent or block anything. You bear full responsibility for this humiliation."
Without the support of two key member states, and with major reservations from more than 100 politicians, the EU Commission president's signature this weekend does not guarantee when or if the agreement comes into motion.
After Saturday, the agreement must be ratified and pass through various checks and balances - a process that is lengthy and could endure for years more before any trade cuts take effect.
