New brake on the EU-Mercosur agreement

The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) was signed in June 2019. Its validation requires the agreement of all national parliaments and that of the European Parliament, but it adopted an amendment specifying that the agreement cannot be ratified as is.

 

 

 

After the rejection of this agreement and the many reservations expressed by various national parliaments, the European Parliament widely adopted (421 votes for out of 705) an amendment specifying that the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur cannot be ratified as such. 

 

 

 

The environmental issue, with in particular the damage that the conclusion of the treaty could cause on the environment with deforestation in the Amazon, was at the heart of the debates. MEPs demanded that the South American partners make additional commitments and others called for the resumption of negotiations.

 

 

 

Originally slated for entry into force as early as 2021, the EU-Mercosur trade agreement now has an uncertain future.