Argentina one step away from leading the ratification of the Mercosur-EU agreement while Europe debates its provisional application

And although in Uruguay they could also approve it before the weekend, and the other neighbors are already discussing it in their respective congresses in a regional trouble never seen before in terms of tradedespite the profound ideological differences that prevail, the government of Javier Milei is on track to be the first to ratify it.

This was also recognized by the European Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovicwho, like other EU officials, believes that the continent must be ready so that, despite opposition from France and a last-minute legal challenge, begins to be applied provisionally.

The agreement signed by Mercosur and the EU after 25 years of negotiations, with advances and enormous setbacks, would turn it into the largest free trade zonewith gradual reductions of Tariffs to zero and safeguards negotiated at the last minute to protect, above all, European producers, who have always opposed the highly competitive sectors of the South American Southern Cone.

The suggestion that Sefcovic made in these days – he also stated that he hoped that “Argentina would be the first to ratify” – occurred in the context of the prevailing debate on what to do in the situation that the Mercosur countries begin to ratify it while what happened in the European Parliament is pending, which days after the signing voted to send it to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to review points considered unclear by reluctant countries and issue an opinion before putting it into effect. This halted the agreement for at least a year..

“When our Mercosur partners are ready with ratification, we should be too,” declared Sefcovic in the midst of a debate that for some is technical and for others, political.

Mercosur and the European Union signed two instruments: the Association Agreement (EMPA) and the Interim Trade Agreement (iTA). The latter is what is at issue in international law, in the law of the European Union and in the framework of the Treaty of Lisbon – which implied a profound structural reform of the bloc – with respect to if it can be applied provisionally. If so, the Mercosur countries that ratify the FTA could begin to temporarily reduce mutual tariffs until the European Court of Justice rules.

Although there is a dilemma between the EU institutions about whether or not the agreement can come into force provisionally even though the European Parliament has not voted on it – because it decided to send it to judicial review -, there are legal and political twists and turns by which the European Council can decide its provisional application, and the Commission cannot make a political choice whether to implement it or not.

Therefore, it is also a political decision: the only pending requirement is that one or more Mercosur States confirm their willingness to initiate this provisional application, with the Council being the only one that could stop the process through a formal modification of its decision.