The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European Commission will begin the provisional application of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. She stressed that under EU treaties, the agreement can only be fully concluded after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament. “The will of Germany prevailed and the EU Council decided to implement the agreement on a provisional basis,” said Mariusz Błaszczak.
“The Commission will now begin provisional application. (…) In accordance with the EU treaties, the agreement can only be fully concluded after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament,” von der Leyen said.
The European Commission was able to decide on the provisional implementation of the agreement after it had been ratified by at least one country belonging to the South American Mercosur bloc. On Thursday, the agreement was first approved by the parliament of Uruguay, followed by Argentina.
“The Mercosur agreement creates a market of 720 million people, opens up countless opportunities, and will save billions of dollars in tariffs. It gives our small and medium-sized enterprises access to markets and enables growth they could previously only dream of,” von der Leyen emphasized.
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement, signed on 17 January, introduces tariff preferences for exporters of products such as beef, poultry, dairy, sugar, and ethanol from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. In turn, the markets of these countries will open to European industry.
The European Parliament has referred a complaint regarding the agreement to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which will delay the vote on its ratification by at least several months.
This Is What Merz Demanded
Today, during a press conference, Mariusz Błaszczak, head of the parliamentary club of Law and Justice (PiS), addressed the issue.
“The Mercosur agreement is very unfavorable; it effectively means the collapse of Polish agriculture. It was introduced on a provisional basis. Why did this happen? Because this was demanded by the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Although the European Parliament sent the agreement to the Court of Justice of the European Union, so it would seem that it was acting in accordance with the treaties, the will of Germany prevailed and the EU Council decided to implement the agreement on a provisional basis. The agreement is in force because the German Chancellor wanted it, even though the majority of the European Parliament did not,” Błaszczak said.