Quick Take — The EU-Mercosur agreement is likely to enter into force provisionally from March, says an EU diplomat

The EU’s free trade agreement with South American countries is likely to be provisionally implemented as early as March, an EU diplomat told Reuters on Thursday, despite an imminent challenge to the EU Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, EU lawmakers dealt a blow to the controversial trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay by referring it to the European Court of Justice, threatening to delay its entry into force by two years.

“The EU-Mercosur agreement will be provisionally applied once the first Mercosur country has ratified it,” an EU diplomat told Reuters.

“It will probably be Paraguay in March,” the diplomat added.

Quick Take — Mercosur: MEPs vote in favour of referring the agreement to the EU Court of Justice

A treaty that, according to its critics, will disrupt European agriculture.

It should allow the EU to export more cars, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America, while facilitating the entry of South American beef, sugar, rice, honey and soya into Europe.

For its detractors, this will disrupt European agriculture with cheaper imported products that do not necessarily meet EU standards due to insufficient controls.

Quick Take — Major Brazilian grain traders abandon Amazon conservation pact

Abiove, which includes ADM (ADM.N), Bunge (BG.N), whose members include Cargill, Cofco and Louis Dreyfus, confirmed that it had ‘initiated talks’ to exit the pact, which is supported by the federal government and environmental groups.

The WWF said in a note that the decision was a setback for the environment.

The companies’ exit from the pact ‘weakens one of the most effective tools to combat deforestation in the country’ and exposes farmers to increasing climate risks, WWF said.

Reuters

Lusetti (Confcommercio): ‘Let’s not harass farmers. Price rises cause energy and climate’ (and raw materials)

The fact of not dealing directly with farmers CANNOT be a boast because it means that those who buy, in the large-scale retail trade, are not doing it well because they accept intermediaries and opacity in the purchase prices and margins of all the actors in the chain. Most probably, by negotiating directly with farmers, they could obtain better prices that would benefit their customers

Our relationship with FOOD over the last 100 YEARS has changed a great deal: how?

How has our relationship with food changed over the last hundred years? In the first episode of the docuseries “What We Eat”, produced in collaboration with @foodunfolded with the support of EIT Food and co-funded by the European Union, we trace the evolution of our relationship with food, which has been turned on its head in just one century

Quick Take — What the new decree on dealcoholised wine sets out, and why the sector has been waiting for it for a long time

The decree comes after a long period of anticipation [and opposition from the Ministry and Coldiretti] on the part of the wine sector and industry associations. In recent months, the issue of dealcoholised wine has remained in a regulatory limbo, which has slowed down investment, experimentation and industrial planning, despite the fact that the European legislation was already in force.

Trade associations had repeatedly called for action to clarify, above all, the tax and authorisation aspects, which were considered the main obstacle to the segment becoming fully operational in Italy. The lack of a regulatory framework governing excise duties and the management of tax warehouses had, in fact, created legal uncertainty for producers interested in developing ranges of dealcoholised or partially dealcoholised wine .

With the signing of the decree, the regulatory framework within which the sector can operate has now been established, at least as regards tax treatment, authorisations and operational procedures relating to production and storage.

The decree was signed by the Minister for Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, alongside Cesare Prandini, President of Coldiretti

The Caprotti family: from textiles – with Manifattura – to Esselunga

The Caprotti story begins with Antonio del fu Giovanni Battista (1685). The family’s origins lie in agriculture and textiles, until 2009 when, partly due to a sharp drop in orders, the company’s top management decided to close the Manifattura after more than 179 years of activity. In the meantime, the Caprotti family took part in the founding of Esselunga in 1957

Quick Take — Retail prices in Italy and inflation: antitrust investigates

In a nutshell, food inflation is higher than total inflation (which includes other items, such as energy, services, etc.) and therefore the AGCM opened a file on it.

We fear it has done so unnecessarily because the prices of many consumer goods – used every day in the lives of Italians – have risen sharply, much higher than average, even in the food sector as a whole. Below – in the first image – you will find some examples. This has also happened in other countries (e.g. meat in the USA).

Even during Covid- 19 a similar investigation was triggered, which then ended up in thin air: the real, long-standing problem, which has never been addressed and solved, is that of farmers’ profitability (see Repubblica piece below). On this issue you can also read this article.

Written on 24 December, updated on 25 December 2025