The European Union has postponed the signing of its long-awaited free-trade agreement with the Mercosur bloc, delaying the process until January as concerns from several member states remain unresolved.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, confirmed on 18 December that the EU had agreed with its Mercosur partners to push back the signature of the deal with Mercosur countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

“We need a few extra weeks to address some issues with member states,” von der Leyen said in a statement. “We have reached out to our Mercosur partners and agreed to postpone slightly the signature.”

The agreement continues to face opposition from several EU member states, notably Italy and France. Originally concluded in 2019 after more than two decades of negotiations, the deal has been repeatedly delayed due to political resistance within the bloc. A renewed “political agreement” between the EU and Mercosur was reached in December last year, but formal ratification has yet to follow.

If ratified, the agreement would create what the Commission has described as the world’s largest free-trade area, covering a combined market of more than 700 million people.

“This deal is of crucial importance for Europe – economically, diplomatically and geopolitically,” von der Leyen said on Thursday. “It opens new trade and economic opportunities for all our member states. With additional checks and safeguards, we have built in all necessary protections for our farmers and our consumers.”

Alongside the delay, European Parliament and Council negotiators have informally agreed on a package of agricultural safeguard measures intended to protect EU producers. These would allow the Commission to temporarily suspend tariff-free imports of so-called sensitive agricultural products — including poultry, beef, sugar, eggs and citrus — if imports are deemed to be harming European farmers.

Under the agreed framework, an investigation into suspending preferential tariffs could be triggered if import volumes rise by more than 8% or if prices fall by more than 8% compared with a three-year average. The Commission would also be able to monitor non-sensitive products at the request of affected industries.

The provisional agreement still requires formal approval by both the European Parliament and the Council before it can enter into force.

Earlier proposals tabled by the Commission in September had set higher trigger thresholds, including a 10% increase in import volumes. These safeguards were criticised at the time by several EU agri-food organisations, which warned that the mechanisms were insufficient to prevent increased competition and downward pressure on prices and standards.

Nine organisations, including Copa-Cogeca and poultry sector body AVEC, said the Commission’s approach “falls short”. “While this initiative clarifies certain aspects of safeguard implementation, critical questions remain over how such a unilateral legal act would be voted on, enforced, and accepted by Mercosur countries as a binding commitment by the Commission,” the groups said in a joint statement.