The European Commission plans to present the text of two trade agreements with Mercosur and Mexico next week, starting a ratification process that may be difficult for France to swallow.

Both agreements are part of Brussels’ effort to open new markets and diversify its exports amid increasingly tense trade relations with China and the U.S., which brutally laid bare the EU’s weakness last month when U.S. President Donald Trump forced the bloc to accept a highly imbalanced trade deal.

Six people familiar with the Commission’s plans, granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the discussion, told POLITICO that the deal with the Mercosur bloc was on the agenda for adoption at the weekly meeting of EU commissioners on Wednesday — barring any last-minute changes.

Four of the people said the upgraded version of the EU-Mexico trade agreement is also scheduled for Wednesday’s meeting, which would allow both deals to pass as a big Latin America package.

The texts would then be sent to EU countries for formal approval. Both deals are expected to be presented as “EU-only agreements,” meaning they could be adopted with qualified majority in the Council of the EU as well as with a majority in the European Parliament, and would not have to pass through national parliaments — significantly expediting the process.

The deal with the Mercosur bloc — consisting of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia — is seen as an important milestone as it would crack open a highly protected market of over 280 million people for European exports.

However, it is likely to run into huge political opposition in countries like France, which fear potentially negative consequences for their farmers due to South American imports such as beef and poultry. French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded the negotiation of an additional protocol to the Mercosur deal with supplementary safeguards for farmers.

Mercosur was also discussed at a Franco-German summit in Toulon on Thursday and Friday, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz being a key proponent of a swift ratification of the deal.

A spokesperson said that the Commission had no comment at this stage.