Text with legal language and translations approved by the 2 blocks will be required; Legislative scrutiny will come later
The trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU (European Union) will be signed at best in June 2025, say diplomats involved in the topic. The president of the EU government, Ursula von der Leyen, and the presidents of Mercosur the end of negotiations at the bloc’s 65th Summit this Friday (Dec 6, 2024) in Montevideo.
The president (PT) participated in the meeting. He left at 12:20 pm, before the other participants to travel back to Brazil.
It will be necessary to create a text with legal language and translations that is approved by the EU and Mercosur. Only then can it be signed by the 2 blocks. This stage is unlikely to be completed before June 2025.
The text will then undergo approval by the Legislatures of the Mercosur and EU countries. The Brazilian government’s assessment is that there will be no resistance in the countries’ legislatures. But a country’s refusal will only have internal effect. It won’t affect others.
In the case of the EU, approval is required from 15 of the 27 countries in the European Council, with a total of 310 million inhabitants, 65% of the bloc’s population. There could be a minority blockade by a group of 4 countries with at least 167 million inhabitants, 35% of the EU population.
MINORITY BLOCKAGE
European farmers are against the agreement because they believe there will be an increase in imports of Mercosur products.
France, Poland, Austria and the Netherlands plan to impose the lockdown. They don’t have the necessary population for this. If Italy joins the group, the population will be affected.
After approval by the European Council, the agreement will have to be approved by the majority of the 710 members of the European Parliament. From this stage onwards, it will come into force. The legislatures of European countries will also vote on the agreement. But they will only be able to veto the political part of the agreement, cooperation and other items.
