He European Parliament has indefinitely paralyzed this Thursday the entry into force of the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur – which was signed last Saturday in Paraguay after 26 years of negotiations – by asking the Luxembourg Court of Justice (CJEU) to rule on its legality.
The resolution has been approved by a narrow margin of just 10 votes difference: 334 votes in favor, 324 against and 11 abstentions.
This means that the European Parliament will not be able to vote on the ratification (or not) of the pact with the bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay until the CJEU issues a ruling, which It could take between 18 and 24 months depending on the average duration of the procedures.
The Commission of Ursula von der Leyen has regretted the result of the vote and has once again defended that the agreement with Mercosur is not only positive from an economic point of view, but is also important for the “geopolitical strength” of the EU in the world.
However, the Community Executive has not wanted to clarify whether it will propose the provisional application of the agreement with Mercosur until the European Parliament rules, a possibility contemplated in the legislation but which Brussels hesitates to activate for fear of definitively angering parliamentarians.