France is demanding further amendments to the planned free-trade agreement between the European Union and the four Latin American Mercosur states shortly before the planned vote on the deal.
The conditions for a vote by the EU states are not in place, the French government said on Sunday evening, calling for a postponement.
The decision to sign the agreement was supposed to take place before the EU summit planned for Thursday and Friday. It is still uncertain whether the necessary majority within the EU would be achieved in a vote.
There are fears from the European Commission that the agreement could remain unsigned for a very long time if it does not succeed this year.
The agreement was originally supposed to be officially signed next weekend on the sidelines of a Mercosur summit in Brazil. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was supposed to fly to South America for this purpose.
Negotiations on the agreement between the EU and the four Mercosur states of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have been ongoing since 1999.
According to the European Commission, the new free-trade zone with more than 700 million inhabitants would be the largest of its kind in the world.
The commission concluded the negotiations on the agreement last December despite ongoing criticism from countries like France. However, the approval of the individual EU member states is still pending.
France has been critical of the agreement for some time, not least due to pressure from farmers who fear disadvantages due to different standards.
In Paris, it was stated that while there had been progress, these advances were incomplete and needed to be finalized and implemented. France could not decide based on announcements, the French government said.
