Szłapka said the College of Commissioners is due to receive the final text on Wednesday, after which the agreement will go to the EU Council and then the European Parliament.
“Poland’s position is clear: Poland is against and will vote against,” he said on Tuesday.
Warsaw will seek support across the bloc “so that this agreement does not enter into force,” he added, noting especially close coordination with France, which shares a “similar interest.” He said President Karol Nawrocki has also pledged to work on the issue.
The EU–Mercosur accord—covering Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay—would lift tariffs for European companies, streamline procedures and remove technical rules that diverge from international standards.
Szłapka stressed that neither EU member states nor the European Parliament have yet had the chance to respond to the text. Poland and France have already pointed to provisions they deem unacceptable and will oppose the pact if those remain.
Both countries fear opening the EU market to South American food produced under “much lower” standards than those required of EU farmers. While the agreement extends beyond agriculture, Szłapka said that concern is decisive for Poland’s stance.
Negotiations have stretched for nearly 25 years, with the European Commission announcing the talks’ conclusion in December 2024. Following high U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, calls grew within the EU to accelerate trade talks with partners in Southeast Asia and South America.
The Commission argues Mercosur is the only major Latin American partner lacking a preferential trade deal, while the EU is the bloc’s second-largest trading partner after China, ahead of the United States.
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Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Agnieszka Bielawska.