Despite "obstacles to overcome", the European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries will strike a "very important" free trade deal, Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday.
"I hope that an agreement can be reached soon. There are some obstacles to overcome, but I believe that in the end a compromise will be found," Tajani stated.
Tajani was speaking at an Italy-Argentina agriculture business forum in Rome at the main Confindustria private employers' association. Argentina's foreign minister Diana Mondino and Italian and Argentine companies also attended the event.
"The EU and Latin American countries share common interests," Tajani said. "There are some problems with France and Brazil but I trust they can be resolved, because it is a topic of great importance for everyone," he added.
France has voiced repeated reservations over an EU-Mercosur deal and the country's president Emmanuel Macron told Brussels in early February it would be impossible to conclude negotiations under the current conditions.
The planned free trad deal has come under political scrutiny in recent weeks, amid protests by farmers who say they are being undercut by cheap imports from countries that do not uphold the EU's strict environmental standards.
The EU and Mercosur - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay - have been in talks for years and in the ongoing negotiations, the EU has been pushing for stronger guarantees on climate change and deforestation.
