France has fervently opposed the free trade agreement between the EU and five South American nations.
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00:00After decades of negotiations, the Mercosur treaty between the EU and the South American
00:10bloc composed of countries like Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to this day continues
00:17to stir controversy.
00:20Hundreds of farmers have been protesting for the past few weeks in France against the free
00:24trade agreement.
00:26Many believe it will devastate France's agriculture sector and bring unfair competition.
00:56But some experts like this one argue Mercosur's impact could be very limited.
01:27Last Wednesday, France's lower house of parliament voted nearly unanimously against the deal,
01:32a rare show of unity in a politically divided country.
01:37But the vote was merely a symbolic one.
01:39So can France really block this treaty?
01:42To do so, it would need to rally three other EU countries that represent 35 percent of
01:48the bloc's population.
01:50At the moment, only Poland has joined France in opposing the agreement.
01:54Paris still needs to find two other large countries to form a blocking minority.
02:00But several EU heavyweights are in favor of the treaty, including Germany, Portugal and
02:05Spain.
02:06Is the EU interested in closing itself right now, or is it interested in this geopolitical
02:15context that we are living in, and especially after the North American elections, in expanding
02:20The Mercosur summit, held on December 5th and 6th in Uruguay, could be a key moment
02:34for the signing of the agreement.