The administration of the European Parliament on Wednesday declared a draft resolution opposing the Mercosur deal inadmissable.
The document, signed by 145 lawmakers, called for a challenge to the highly controversial trade agreement in the EU Court of Justice in an effort to suspend its ratification process.
A previous vote by MEPs in October showed that the Parliament remained deeply divided over the agreement, putting a question mark over the consent required for its ratification – and the dismissal of the latest resolution has inflamed tensions further.
“MEPs’ prerogatives are being flouted and they are being muzzled in their ability to carry out their parliamentary activities,” Belgian MEP Saskia Bricmont (The Greens) told Euronews, adding: “This is very serious.”
The Conference of Presidents, a parliamentary body made up of the chairs of the different political groups, confirmed the decision on Wednesday, meaning the resolution will not be included in the agenda of the next plenary session in Strasbourg next week.
The agreement between the Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – and the EU aims to establish a transatlantic free trade zone. The political agreement was struck by the two blocs in December 2024 after 20 years of discussion; its supporters, led by Germany and Spain, hoped that it would offer the EU access to major strategic markets.
However, EU farmers and climate activists oppose the deal, claiming it will open the door to unfair competition from Mercosur countries and jeopardise landmark EU legislation on the Green Deal.
Clash over the ratification procedure
One argument raised by the MEPs in their draft resolution is that by splitting the agreement between its trade and political parts to bypass the approval of National Parliaments during the ratification process, the European Commission has violated its mandate.
However, the Parliament administration said on Wednesday that the request to bring the Mercosur deal before EU judges was inadmissible because the Council, which represents EU member states, has not yet asked for the Parliament’s consent to ratify.
The clash with Parliament’s administration over the ratification procedure comes just weeks after a vote revealed that opposition to the deal ran well beyond the 145 MEPs who backed the draft resolution.
On 8 October, 269 MEPs rejected a paragraph of another resolution on the EU’s political strategy for Latin America that welcomed the conclusion of the Mercosur agreement, while 259 voted in favour.
The vote caught supporters of the deal off guard. According to them, the agreement is essential at a time when China is expanding its influence in Latin America and the US has imposed tariffs on EU exports, developments that have accelerated the Commission’s strategy to conclude trade agreements worldwide.
However, some member states could yet oppose the Mercosur agreement, despite safeguards proposed by the Commission to reinforce the monitoring of potential market disruptions that could result from a surge in Mercosur imports.
Hungary and Poland are currently against the deal, while the approval of France, Ireland, Austria, and the Netherlands remains pending.
The full picture is expected to become clearer by 20 December, when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to fly to Latin America to celebrate the signing. It is far from certain that her plane will take off.