France, Jan. 9 -- Aqualified majority of member states - at least 15 countries representing 65 percent of the EU's population - backed the deal at a meeting in Brussels on Friday.

France, Ireland, Austria and Poland are understood to be among the countries that voted against it.

The result clears EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to sign the accord with Mercosur, the South American bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

The European Parliament must give its consent, however, before the deal can enter into force.

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard has already pledged to push for rejection in the Parliament, where the vote could be tight. €4bn deal

If approved, the deal would be the EU's large...