Von der Leyen announces the provisional application of the trade pact with Mercosur despite the doubts of the European Parliament

The pact will begin to be applied provisionally, without waiting for ratification by the European Parliament, after having already been validated this Thursday by Argentina y Uruguay.

The decision comes despite the frontal opposition of France and Poland, as well as the European agricultural sectorwhich fears unfair competition from Latin American products.

Von der Leyen has also not taken into account the reservations of the European Parliamentwho sent the text to Court of Justice of the European Union to examine its legality.

While the president Pedro Sanchez supports the provisional application of the pact with Mercosur, the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo has asked to wait for the CJEU to rule.

In an impromptu appearance, the president of the Commission defended that the agreement with Mercosur “gives Europe a strategic advantage, by being the first in a world of intense competition and increasingly shorter horizons.” “But that advantage must be realized“he stressed.

The European Governments – Von der Leyen recalls – empowered the Community Executive to provisionally apply the agreement from the first ratification by a Mercosur country.

“I have already said it before: when they are ready, we will be ready. Therefore, in recent weeks, I have debated this issue intensively with the Member States and with Members of the European Parliament. On this basis, the Commission will now proceed with the provisional application of the agreement,” the president announced.

“Provisional application is, by its very nature, provisional. This is indicated by its own name and is established by the EU Treaties. “The agreement can only be fully concluded once the European Parliament has given its consent.”

“Therefore, the Commission will continue to work closely with all EU institutions, Member States and stakeholders to ensure a smooth and transparent process,” says Von der Leyen.

Along with Sánchez, the other European leader who has called for accelerating Mercosur is the chancellor Friedrich Merzwhich considers this agreement as a central pillar of the European Union’s trade diversification agenda, along with the recently signed pact with India.

Both Sánchez and Merz defend that the agreement with Mercosur constitutes a strategic priority, considering that it will allow the EU to open new markets to compensate for the increase in tariffs decreed by Trump and, at the same time, reduce dependence on China in key products such as rare earths.

On the opposite side, the French president, Emmanuel Macronand farmers’ organizations across Europe have led the rejection of the pact, arguing that liberalization will harm the community farming sector.

In her appearance, Von der Leyen alleged that “Mercosur is one of the most transcendental trade agreements of the first half of this century,” because it brings together partners “who see the world like we do and who They believe in openness, cooperation and good faith“.

“Mercosur embodies the spirit with which Europe is acting on the global stage. Europe is becoming stronger and gaining autonomy. Our companies, our workers and our citizens will benefit from this, and they should do it as soon as possible“, concluded the president.

The agreement with the Latin American bloc – which is based in the exchange of beef and Latin American agricultural products by cars and machinery from the European Union – will form a market of 700 million inhabitants and will save European exporters 4,000 million euros a year in tariffs, according to Brussels.

Specifically, Mercosur’s “prohibitive tariffs” on key industrial products such as automobiles (currently 35%), machinery (14-20%) and pharmaceuticals (up to 14%) are cut.

It is estimated that the agreement can increase annual EU exports to Mercosur by up to 39% (49 billion euros), supporting more than 440,000 jobs in Europe.

Although the pact has provoked strong rejection in the primary sector (with protests in numerous EU capitals), Brussels maintains that it will allow increase European agri-food exports to Mercosur by 50%thanks to the reduction of tariffs on key products such as wines and spirits (up to 35%), chocolate (20%) and olive oil (10%).

In addition, the pact protects 344 Community geographical indications against any imitation. For the most sensitive products (beef, chicken, rice and sugar), the EU has approved a monitoring and early warning mechanism to detect any sharp increase in imports, which would allow tariffs to be reintroduced.