The European Parliament has decided to have the EU's free trade agreement with four countries from the Latin American Mercosur bloc reviewed by the Court of Justice of the European Union. This is clear after a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
The agreement has otherwise been signed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and is considered an important step for the EU in its work to open new markets for exports. Vice-President of the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose (S), is disappointed by the decision.
- It is deeply worrying that the European Parliament, in a time of global unrest, is choosing to drag out the Mercosur agreement. Europe needs new, strong partners around the world, precisely because we can no longer take old alliances for granted, and because we are under pressure from both the East and the West, says Christel Schaldemose.
Agreement enters into force provisionally
The EU Commission has previously stated that the agreement can enter into force without the approval of the EU Parliament. And one must understand from the spokesperson for the EU Commission, Olof Gill, that the EU Commission will choose to let the agreement enter into force provisionally while waiting for the court's decision. Thus, the EU Parliament's decision does not initially stop the agreement.
- The EU Commission regrets the EU Parliament's decision. According to our analysis, the questions raised by the EU Parliament are not justified. The EU Commission has already addressed these issues in detail with the EU Parliament, says Olof Gill.
He states that the EU Commission will now once again enter into dialogue with the EU Parliament and its members.
- We will explain to them why they can safely support the agreement and why we believe it is vital for the EU, says Olof Gill.
He highlights that on Wednesday in the EU Parliament, the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke in favour of increased EU independence in areas such as trade. This is necessary in a world that, according to von der Leyen, is increasingly governed by "brute force".
According to Olof Gill, the issue of the Mercosur agreement will now be raised at Thursday's extraordinary EU summit in Brussels.
The agreement was adopted by a qualified majority of EU countries. But this happened after delays and continued political showdowns. Ultimately, Italy chose to support the agreement, so that the qualified majority was reached.
But this happened over the heads of large EU countries such as France and Poland. In addition to France and Poland, Austria, Hungary and Ireland also voted against the agreement. This was largely due to concerns about the consequences of the agreement for European agriculture.
With Wednesday's decision, the European Parliament is raising new doubts about the agreement, which has been 26 years in the making and has been the subject of extensive agricultural protests in France, Poland and Belgium, among others.
Schaldemose: EU should stick to the agreement
Wednesday's decision also goes against the EU's attempts to increase its independence in the area of trade at a time when US President Donald Trump has already imposed a 15 percent tariff on European goods. And now the US is threatening further tariffs on European countries in the escalating showdown over Greenland. Therefore, the EU should stick to the agreement, believes Christel Schaldemose.
- The agreement provides access to a market with around 700 million consumers and strengthens the European and Danish economy. The EU needs more partners, not fewer, says Christel Schaldemose.
In the vote on Wednesday, 334 EU parliamentarians voted in favor of the legal assessment of the court. 324 voted against and 11 abstained.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
