Just recently, Mercosur cleared the European Council, with 21 countries in favour, 1 abstention, and 5 against. It looked like Europe was finally moving forward on one of the biggest trade deals on the planet — at a moment when we urgently need to diversify away from the US. But in this video, I’ll explain why the European Parliament just voted to send the deal to the European Court of Justice, delaying it by up to 24 months. And I’ll also break down the controversial plan for “provisional application”, meaning parts of the deal could still start as early as March, even without the final court ruling or Parliament’s final vote. So yes: this is about Mercosur, but also about how Europe keeps tripping over itself at the worst possible time.
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‘The European Greens have long raised serious concerns about the EU-Mercosur agreement, including its impact on deforestation, labour rights and environmental protections. The structure of this deal risks reinforcing extractive export models in Mercosur countries, while exposing EU farmers and workers to competition from products that do not meet European health, social and environmental standards. We recognise that some see this agreement primarily through a geopolitical lens. But strategic partnerships should strengthen resilience, sustainability and fairness - not undermine them. In the context of Trump’s tariffs and intensifying global competition, Europe’s economic strength should be built through a strong Single Market and targeted public and private investment, not by lowering standards.’
The European Greens’ statement makes sense to me, and it comes at a time when they have the most leverage over the deal. I really hope the deal gets reworked and Europe can stay the course on its climate and food safety issues.
This deal is most likely killed at this point, Mercosur won’t wait 25 more years. Mercosur clearly gave preference to the EU, but patience has limits. They’ll now sign deals instead with China and India, without any of those safeguards that this deal had. Europe is not the center of the world. For a party supposedly worried with climate change they have an incredibly provintial and eurocentric view of the planet.
Basically, for those of you who have been living under a rock, Mercosur is a trade deal…
Mercosur is an economic bloc in South America which the EU has been negotiatiating a trade agreement with.
This would be like some Argentinian saying “the European Union is a trade agreement” that we are negoiating with some countries in Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU–Mercosur_Partnership_Agreement
The European Union–Mercosur Partnership Agreement is a signed, but not yet ratified, free trade agreement on which the European Union and the South American trade bloc Mercosur reached agreement in principle in 2019.
4 countries in SA vs 27 in Europe. The point being, many people think this deal is with the whole SA.
Interestingly EU deals with Chile and Colombia were approved without any difficulty.
I do believe the fact people are unfamiliar with Mercosur as an organization and often imagine it bigger than it is made it easier to increase the opposition. Shouting “no trade with Brazil” sounds more aggressive and xenophobic than shouting “stop Mercosur”.
