W The EU trade agreement with Mercosur is always up in the air. A few days after the head of the Commission and the Mercosur heads of state celebrated its conclusion, the European Parliament voted in favor by a narrow majority on Wednesdaythat the European Court of Justice should review it.
There is probably no trade agreement that has been buried and revived so often by the press. And there is great agreement about how important the agreement is for Europe – from Straubinger Tagblatt up to Time. Donald Trump’s constant tariff threats and recent strengthening of his claim to Greenland are fueling the general understanding that Europe must demonstrate unity and show that it can trade with other partners.
However, the world situation does not change the fundamental problem that the deal largely favors large corporations in harmful industries and leads to more exports of problematic goods: the big winners are burners, pesticides, feed soy, raw materials, the losers are local markets, small farmers, indigenous people and the rainforest. Renegotiations on climate protection followed Negotiations for loopholes.
The agreement represents a vision of sustainable trade and the primacy of social and environmental goals. The agreement should not serve to give in to the logic of the stronger. Europe should advocate for global rules, for example the USA should not exempt from the global minimum tax or shrug your shoulders when Trump shoots down ships off Venezuela.
Under the pressure from the Commission to push through the Mercosur agreement, democratic aspirations are also suffering. What is embarrassing is not that Europe cannot find an agreement on the Mercosur agreement, but rather that the EU Commission is pushing it through past parliaments. Even when it was signed, it was clear that a majority in the European Parliament was shaky.
The Commission previously bypassed the national parliaments by decoupling the trading part that did not require their approval – although it is still completely unclear whether the additions to social and environmental obligations will still apply. And now Brussels is threatening to apply the treaty provisionally even without ratification by Parliament.
Wait for the opinion of the European Court of Justice as to whether the deal is compatible with EU law? Free! It takes at least several months. Given the global situation, Brazil apparently hasn’t had time yet Request from the UN Human Rights Committee to comply and review the deal.