European Parliament freezes EU-Mercosur agreement

By 334 votes in favor, 324 against and 11 abstentions, the European Parliament gave the green light to a motion that questions whether the agreement with Mercosur, signed last weekend after more than a quarter of a century of negotiations, respects European Union treaties.

At issue is the legal validity of the rebalancing mechanism included in the pact, which several MPs fear could affect the EU’s regulatory autonomy, as well as the legal basis chosen for its approval, which allows the trade-focused chapters of the agreement to be ratified without the consent of national parliaments.

According to the CJEU, this type of opinion takes, on average, between 18 and 24 months to be delivered, although the court “has full control” over the procedures and “can, when circumstances require, give priority to a request for an opinion in practice”.

Different voices within the European Parliament had warned the day before that it would be a very close vote and warned of a delay in ratifying the agreement and sending the text to the CJEU, especially given Donald Trump’s tariff threats due to the sending of troops to Greenland by eight European countries.