EU approves draft Mercosur trade deal with ‘robust’ protections for farmers

The EU on Wednesday moved a step closer to sealing the world’s largest free-trade zone, giving final approval to its long-delayed pact with South America’s Mercosur bloc while assuring ‘robust’ protections for farmers to win over a skeptical France. The pact, set to create the world’s largest 700-million-strong trade area, is key to Brussels’ push to diversify markets.