• Italy plans to back the Mercosur free-trade agreement in a vote that will likely be the final major hurdle for the European Union to clinch the accord.
• The EU-Mercosur trade pact would create a market, phasing out tariffs on goods such as cars and giving Europe wider access to Mercosur’s agricultural sector.
• The deal can pass without support from France and just needs a qualified majority of the EU’s member states.

…

Italy is expected to reverse course and support the deal when EU ambassadors vote on the measure on Jan. 9, according to people familiar with the matter. That would allow the EU to sign the treaty with the Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — on Jan. 12.

…

The EU-Mercosur trade pact would create a 780 million-consumer market, phasing out tariffs on goods such as cars and giving Europe wider access to Mercosur’s vast agricultural sector. The deal would offer both sides an alternative to the US after President Donald Trump imposed a slate of global tariffs over the past year.

…

The proposed accord is the largest ever negotiated by the EU. For more than two decades, talks have perpetually paused and restarted as officials tried to appease concerns over both environmental protections and agrifood standards for the Mercosur bloc.

…