Speaking on Friday, Tusk said EU leaders decided against signing the deal this year, a move earlier confirmed by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.
Tusk added that the delay would give the European Commission time to strengthen safeguards for European producers.
The Polish prime minister said that the Commission may seek to finalise the agreement in January.
However, he told reporters that Warsaw’s position remained unchanged.
"Poland is still against Mercosur and will uphold this stance," he said.
At the same time, Tusk indicated that if a majority of EU member states were ultimately to back the deal, Brussels would be obliged to use the additional time to negotiate stronger protections for farmers and producers.
"The direction of the European Commission’s work is fairly clear and concerns some form of enforcement of the principle that products entering Europe must meet the same standards as agricultural products produced in Europe," he said.
According to the prime minister, a number of safeguards for Polish agriculture have already been secured, partly due to pressure from Polish members of the European Parliament.
He said the agreement’s impact on Polish farmers would be less severe than initially feared and that the EU would be required to provide protective measures and support where negative effects emerged.
Tusk also said Poland was pushing for an increased budget for agriculture in the EU’s next financial framework, working alongside Italy and France.
He added that cooperation with those two countries had been key to delaying the signing of the deal.
The European Commission had been scheduled to sign the agreement with Mercosur countries—Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay—on Saturday.
Following the decision to delay, von der Leyen’s planned visit to Brazil was postponed.
The planned agreement has sparked widespread protests by farmers across Europe.
On Thursday, demonstrations took place in Brussels, involving farmers from Poland, Italy and France, among others.
Protesters have warned that preferential tariffs on certain agricultural imports from Mercosur countries could put European farmers at a competitive disadvantage.
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP