Representatives of EU member states have voted in favour of adopting the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement in a key vote today (Friday, January 9).

Government sources told Agriland that the trade deal was adopted in the vote this morning, with permanent representatives of member states adopting the trade deal by qualified majority.

It is understood that five member states decided to vote against the deal, namely Ireland, France, Poland, Austria and Hungary, while Belgium abstained.

All other member states voted in favour, including Italy, which had indicated in December that it had misgivings over the deal but in recent days appeared to have been won over by concessions from the European Commission.

It is understood that member states are expected to confirm their votes in writing before 4:00p.m Irish time this evening.

The European Parliament will now have to vote in favour of the deal in the coming weeks, but at the moment there are no signals that the deal will be opposed there.

Before that, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected the travel to South American to politically sign the deal.

Ireland

The Irish government confirmed for the first time yesterday that it would vote against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement.

In a statement yesterday, Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said: "The government's position on Mercosur has always been clear: We did not support the deal in the form in which it was presented.

The Tánaiste said that, while the EU has put forward a number of measures to alleviate concerns over the Mercosur deal's impact on Irish agriculture, they have not been enough.

"Experienced governments do not deal in absolutes; they deal in outcomes. Unfortunately, the outcome in this negotiation is that although the EU has agreed to a number of additional measures, they are not sufficient to satisfy our citizens," he said.

"So our position stands. We will vote against the agreement," the Tánaiste confirmed.