The European Parliament today, January 21, put the trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries on hold, as a narrow majority, just 10 MEPs, decided to refer the draft agreement to the Court of Justice of the EU to rule on its legal basis.
The vote to refer the Agreement to the Court of Justice of the EU was 334 in favor, 324 against, and there were 10 abstentions.
It took more than a quarter of a century of continuous negotiations, countless postponements and intra-European conflicts for European Union member states to reach an agreement on the trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries about two weeks ago. It is a huge trade deal with the countries of the Latin American bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
However, the EP plenary in Strasbourg decided to raise another obstacle, which no one can say with certainty whether it will delay or bury the mega trade deal covering a market of around 700 million citizens. Although the Commission and the Council of the EU (member states) support this agreement, for it to enter into full force, its approval by the European Parliament is also needed.
The European Parliament did not vote today on whether to ratify the agreement, but on whether to refer it to the Court of Justice of the EU, which will decide whether it is compatible with EU law. A judgment that could take up to two years. A period of time that, according to some MEPs, is tantamount to its rejection in practice. At the same time, no one in Strasbourg is ruling out the possibility that the EU's highest court may request amendments to the text of the agreement, a scenario that would delay the entire process even further.
Protests with hundreds of tractors outside the European Parliament
The vote took place as thousands of French and other European farmers with hundreds of tractors demonstrated outside the European Parliament building against the trade agreement, while a strong police force was deployed, carrying out checks on anyone trying to approach the European Parliament. Yesterday, some MEPs from the Greens, European Conservatives and Reformists and Patriots for Europe political groups met with the farmers and spoke to them, declaring their categorical opposition to the EU-Mercosur agreement.
The European Commission's options are now very limited. In theory, the EU executive could proceed with the provisional application of the Agreement, pending a ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU. However, such an action would cause problems in the Commission's relations with the European Parliament.
In France, opposition to Mercosur is spreading beyond farmers. Several ministries have announced measures to ban Latin American products from school meals.
Authorities in the Loiret department said last week they would vote on a proposal to stop buying meat from Latin America for school canteens, which serve about 24.000 meals a day, while the Côte-d'Or department in Burgundy made a similar decision.
Source: protothema.gr
