The EU Mercosur trade agreement has hit a new obstacle after the European Parliament voted to request a legal opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Union on the agreement's validity. The move, approved by a narrow margin, introduces a significant delay to the ratification process and opens the door to the deal being stalled for more than a year.
The vote, held today in Strasbourg, highlighted deep divisions within the European Parliament. A total of 334 MEPs supported referring the agreement to the Court, while 324 voted against and 11 abstained. The agreement, signed on 17 January and intended to create one of the world's largest free trade areas with more than 700 million consumers, was already facing strong political and social opposition in several member states. On the eve of the vote, thousands of farmers demonstrated in Strasbourg, with clashes reported between protesters and security forces near the European Parliament.
The Court of Justice will now have to assess whether the procedure used to advance the agreement complies with EU treaties. MEPs backing the referral have questioned the European Commission's decision to separate the trade pillar from the broader agreement, allowing its approval to rest solely with the Council and the European Parliament, without involvement from national parliaments. In their view, this approach may breach the EU's legal framework.
The resolution adopted by Parliament also casts doubt on the legality of the so called rebalancing mechanism included in the agreement. This mechanism would allow Mercosur countries to adopt compensatory measures if future EU regulations were to reduce their exports to the European market.
As a direct consequence of the referral to the Court, the approval process in the European Parliament has been suspended. The final vote, initially expected in the coming months, cannot take place until the Court issues its ruling, a process that could take more than a year and leave the agreement effectively on hold.
Despite this, the European Commission retains the option of moving forward with provisional application of the agreement while the legal review is ongoing. While technically possible, this route is politically sensitive and could further strain relations between EU institutions, particularly after the Commission had assured several MEPs that it would not pursue provisional application during the judicial review.
With the process now in the hands of the Court of Justice, the future of the EU Mercosur agreement is marked by uncertainty, against a backdrop of strong social opposition and growing political tension over the direction of European trade policy.
Source: euronews.com
