The trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries will provisionally enter into force from May 1st, the European Commission said this Monday.
In a statement, the indicates that this Monday it completed the last formal step that is necessary for the provisional application of the trade agreement, by sending a verbal note to Paraguay, the country that currently holds the presidency of Mercosur.
“The trade agreement will therefore be provisionally applied from May 1st between the EU and all Mercosur countries that complete their ratification processes and notify the European Union (EU) before the end of March – Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have already done so. Paraguay recently ratified the agreement and is expected to send the notification soon”, indicates the community executive.
The European Commission states that the provisional application of the trade agreement guarantees the “elimination of tariffs on certain products from day one, creating predictable rules for trade and investment”.
“EU businesses, consumers and farmers can therefore immediately start reaping the benefits of the agreement, while sensitive sectors of the EU economy are fully protected by robust safeguards”, says the executive.
A he also adds that the provisional application will guarantee reinforced collaboration between the EU and Mercosur on issues such as labor rights or climate change and will “create more resilient and reliable supply chains, essential above all for the predictable flow of critical raw materials”.
Quoted in the statement, the Commissioner for Trade, Maros Sefcovic, considers that this day is important for the EU to prove its “credibility as a major trading partner”.
“The priority now is to turn this EU-Mercosur agreement into concrete results, giving EU exporters the platform they need to seize new opportunities for trade, growth and jobs. Provisional application allows us to start delivering on that promise,” he says.
On February 27, the president of the European Commission indicated that the institution would move forward with the provisional application of the agreement between the EU and Mercosur, which has been contested by the agriculture sector and by countries such as France and Poland.
The deal can only be fully concluded once it is voted on and approved by the European Parliament, a process that is currently at a standstill after, in January, MEPs decided to send the deal to the EU Court of Justice to check its compliance with EU law.
O signed on January 17 after more than 20 years of negotiations, aims to eliminate or drastically reduce customs duties between the two blocs.
In addition to the commercial part, the agreement also includes a political partnership, which must be ratified by all member states.
The Southern Common Market (Mercosur) is a South American intergovernmental organization founded in 1991, with headquarters in Montevideo.
It is one of the largest economic blocs in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), the largest food producer in the world and includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
