BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU lawmakers voted on Wednesday to challenge the European Union’s contentious free trade agreement with South America in the bloc’s top court, a move that could delay the deal by two years and potentially derail it.
The European Union signed its largest-ever trade pact with Mercosur members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay on Saturday after 25 years of negotiations. It still requires approval before it can take effect.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, among the deal’s principal backers, called the referral to the court regrettable, adding in a social media post that the EU assembly had “misjudged the geopolitical situation”. He insisted that the agreement should be applied soon on a provisional basis.
Germany and other supporters such as Spain point to U.S. President Donald Trump’s disruption of global trade. They argue the deal is essential to offset business lost to U.S. tariffs and to reduce reliance on China by securing access to critical minerals. They also warn that Mercosur governments are losing patience with the EU after years of negotiations.
The EU could still apply the pact provisionally pending the ruling and parliamentary approval. But doing so could prove politically difficult given the likely backlash, and the European Parliament would retain the power to annul it later.
Opponents, led by France – the EU’s largest agricultural producer – say the deal will sharply increase imports of cheap beef, sugar and poultry, undercutting domestic farmers who have staged repeated protests.
