Brussels is headed for a tough week over its free-trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur, after Paris launched a last-ditch effort to derail the signing of the landmark accord.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen is due in Brazil on Saturday to sign the agreement, which, 20 years in the making, would create the world's biggest free-trade area.
But she first needs to get approval from member states. Wrangling is set to go down to the wire, with up to 10,000 farmers planning to descend on the Belgian capital to vent their anger at the deal during a leaders' summit Thursday and Friday.
France, the pact
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