The EU\u2019s trade deal with the South American\u00a0trade bloc Mercosur will enter into force with\u00a0immediate effect,\u00a0after the EU Commission confirmed that it would provisionally apply the pact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking on Friday<\/a> (27 February), commission president Ursula von der Leyen\u00a0said that the parliaments in\u00a0Argentina\u00a0and Uruguay had\u00a0now\u00a0ratified the agreement, which was concluded in January. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen they are ready, we are ready,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ratifications in South America, which are likely to be followed in the coming days in Uruguay and Brazil \u201cshow the trust and eagerness of our partners\u201d,\u00a0she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agreement will now enter into force pending approval by the European Parliament.<\/p>\n However, the announcement was hit by immediate pushback from Paris, one of the longtime sceptics of the deal among EU member states.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a decision that I regret,\u201d French agriculture minister\u00a0Annie Genevard\u00a0said, according to AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not in line with the respect that should have been shown for the European Parliament\u2019s decision, \u201d she added, calling it \u201cvery damaging to the functioning of our institutions and, above all, to the spirit of our European institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the news was welcomed in Berlin.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the hour of Europe: With the [commission] provisionally applying the EU-Mercosur FTA companies & people from both continents can finally benefit from more prosperity & growth,\u201d wrote German foreign minister Johann Wadephul on X.<\/p>\n Promise of \u20ac4bn a year<\/p>\n EU officials reckon that the agreement, which features tariff and quota-free trade, will save the bloc\u2019s businesses \u20ac4bn per year in customs duties alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n The agreement with Mercosur, the negotiations for which spanned several decades, is\u00a0arguably the\u00a0most significant of a series of trade deals that the EU commission has sought to conclude\u00a0since Donald Trump\u2019s second presidency in the United States heralded the start of transatlantic trade tensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMercosur is one of the most consequential trade agreements of the first half of this century,\u201d\u00a0said von der Leyen, adding that it\u00a0\u201cgives Europe a strategic first mover advantage in a world of sharp competition and short horizons\u201d and\u00a0\u201callows\u00a0our small businesses to access markets and scale that they could only dream of.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Last month, EU governments gave permission for the commission to provisionally apply the trade deal as soon as the first Mercosur country\u00a0ratified\u00a0it.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the move will anger many MEPs in the European Parliament, where a majority voted to send the Mercosur deal to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for a legal opinion<\/a> on its compatibility with the bloc\u2019s treaties.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018An absolute democratic scandal\u2019<\/p>\n It was following the parliament\u2019s European Court of Justice (ECJ) referral, widely seen as a delaying tactic by opponents of the Mercosur agreement,\u00a0that\u00a0member states\u00a0urged the commission to provisionally apply the agreement \u2014 a move which is allowed by the EU treaties. That would then be confirmed when the parliament ratifies the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Manon Aubry, an MEP with the Left group, which led the campaign to refer Mercosur to the ECJ, described the commission\u2019s move as \u201can absolute democratic scandal\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aubry added that it was a \u201ca grave move that sets a dangerous precedent, showing how far the Commission is willing to go to impose free trade at the expense of people and the planet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n