The European Commission has announced it will provisionally implement its landmark trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, triggering a public rift between France and Germany, the EU's two largest member states. The move follows the ratification of the agreement by Argentina and Uruguay on Thursday.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday that the bloc would move forward with the agreement, pending a ruling on its legality from the EU's top court. "The commission will now proceed with provisional application," von der Leyen said in Brussels, recalling that member states had given the EU executive the power to do so. "Provisional application is, by its nature, provisional," she added. "The agreement can only be fully concluded once the European Parliament has given its consent."
Von der Leyen hailed the ratification by Argentina and Uruguay as "good news." Provisional application will begin on "the first day of the second month following the date on which the EU and Uruguay, as the first Mercosur country to ratify, exchange notes verbales," EU trade spokesman Olof Gill later clarified. The deal still needs a green light from lawmakers in the European Parliament, which referred it to the EU's top court within days of being signed in January.
The announcement exposed a sharp divide between France and Germany. France has led opposition to the deal and unsuccessfully attempted to block it over concerns for its farmers, who fear being undercut by cheaper goods from Brazil and its neighbours. French President Emmanuel Macron called the decision a "bad surprise" that ignored the European Parliament. French agriculture minister Annie Genevard said the decision was "very damaging to the functioning of our institutions and, above all, to the spirit of our European institutions."
French EU lawmaker Celine Imart accused the commission of "showing contempt" for farmers. "We will continue to fight with determination to ensure that this provisional application never becomes permanent," she told AFP. Germany and Spain, however, welcomed the step. "Companies and people from both continents can finally benefit from more prosperity and growth," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.
EU trade spokesman Olof Gill pushed back against French criticism, saying EU member states had "empowered" the commission to take such a decision. The deal will provisionally apply to the Mercosur countries that have already ratified it. Gill added that the commission anticipated the remaining members, Brazil and Paraguay, would ratify "soon."
The deal between the EU and the four founding members of the Mercosur bloc, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, was a quarter century in the making. The accord creates one of the world's biggest free trade zones and eliminates tariffs on more than 90 percent of trade between the two blocs, which together account for 30 percent of global GDP and over 700 million consumers.
Major exports from the South American grouping to the EU include agricultural products and minerals, while the 27-country bloc would export machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals with smaller levies. Von der Leyen stressed the deal offered "countless opportunities," adding: "It allows our small and medium-sized businesses to access markets and scale they could only dream of before."
Farmers across Europe remain unconvinced and are up in arms. In Spain, farmers staged a protest against the deal in Madrid earlier this month. Concerns centre on cheaper agricultural imports from Brazil and its neighbours undercutting European producers. The European Commission, however, insists it has fully addressed their concerns by approving a series of safeguards for its producers.
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