Europe's automotive, chemical and machine-tool industries stand to benefit from the free trade agreement, even leading to much more gains than the potential losses in the agricultural sector.

France's far-right and far-left opposition parties will launch no-confidence motions against France's weak minority government in response to the likely approval on Friday of the EU's Mercosur trade deal.

A majority of the European Union's 27 members on Friday approved a long-negotiated deal that paves the way for a vast free trade bloc across Europe and Latin America. The Mercosur agreement – the biggest the EU has ever agreed – continues to face fierce opposition from France and a handful of other countries,

The EU is set on Friday to finalize the Mercosur free trade agreement with four South American countries - Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, as European farmers continued to rally against the planned deal.

The Mercosur bloc will sign its long-delayed trade agreement with the European Union on January 17, Argentina’s foreign ministry said Friday, marking a breakthrough after years of negotiations.

Farmers dump a mound of potatoes in downtown Brussels to protest the Mercosur trade dealPROTESTING FARMER, MARINE (NO SURNAME GIVEN): “As we’ve seen in recent days, farmers are angry. The Mercosur deal is going through,

The European Union on Friday reached a free trade agreement with South American countries, 25 years after talks began, despite opposition from farmers in several European countries.

EU states gave the go-ahead on Friday for the bloc to sign its largest free trade accord with the South American group Mercosur, more than 25 years after talks began, following months of wrangling to secure enough support.