France hopes to convince Poland to join forces to block a trade deal between the European Union and the Latin American bloc Mercosur, in the works for a quarter of a century.

Prime Minister Michel BarnierThe Warsaw government aims to convince Warsaw to form a coalition against the Mercosur pact, amid fears that the European Commission – led by Ursula von der Leyen — is pushing ahead with negotiations to close the blockbuster deal by the end of the year, people familiar with the matter said.