The EU Commission has already signed the contract with four South American countries. The EU parliamentarians are now delaying ratification.
afp | It’s the next hurdle for that Trade agreement with the South American Mercosur states: The European Parliament has called for a review at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The opponents of the agreement thus prevailed in a vote on Wednesday in Strasbourg with a narrow majority of 334 to 324 votes against. The ECJ review is likely to delay the ratification of the agreement by months.
Wednesday’s vote was seen as a test for actual ratification in the European Parliament. This means that the final decision on the agreement is now in jeopardy.
President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen signed the free trade agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay last Saturday. A majority of the 27 EU countries had previously given the green light – despite resistance from France, where the agreement was met with widespread rejection. The parliamentary request for an appeal to the ECJ was also made by French MPs.
They called on the Court to examine whether the agreement is compatible with the fundamental EU treaties. Among other things, they cite a lack of controls for pesticide residues on imports and criticize the EU Commission’s approach to concluding the agreement.
The EU Commission rejects allegations
“The Commission regrets this decision by the European Parliament,” said a spokesman in Brussels. “According to our analysis, the issues raised by Parliament in this motion are not justified,” he added.
With the appeal to the ECJ, ratification in the European Parliament has stopped for the time being – the MPs now have to wait for the judges’ assessment. Ratification is also still pending among our South American trading partners.
The Mercosur agreement is intended to create one of the world’s largest free trade areas. While Europeans export, among other things, cars and chemical products such as pesticides across the Atlantic, the Mercosur countries mainly deliver agricultural products and raw materials to Europe. The German economy is hoping for significant increases in exports from the agreement.
French farmers protested against the agreement in front of the European Parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday. Cheers broke out among the demonstrators when the voting results were announced, an afp reporter on site reported. “We have won,” shouted the general secretary of the French farmers’ association FNSEA, Hervé Lapie.
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