Deepening trade means putting the EU-Mercosur agreement back on the agenda. The EU’s trade ministers discussed the importance of international trade on Friday 10 March in Stockholm, and this agreement was part of the discussion. Many Member States are pushing for rapid progress on the agreement in the coming months.
The European Commission has taken another step forward with its additional protocol, which it presented to the Member States and to some MEPs and Mercosur negotiators (see EUROPE 13138/22).
The much discussed additional protocol has already been welcomed by several of those involved, starting with Spain, which strongly supports the agreement: “This is an additional instrument that we think is very good because it establishes reciprocal obligations. It does not reopen the agreement, which is fundamental for us, and, above all, it is very consistent with the concerns we have regarding environmental protection”, said the Spanish trade minister, Xiana Méndez Rosana Morillo, in Stockholm.
According to several sources briefed by the European Commission, the additional protocol clarifies the obligations of both parties with regard to environmental compliance (deforestation, compliance with the Paris Agreement, biodiversity, non-regression clauses, etc.). These elements are already included in principle in the sustainable development chapters of the agreement, which are binding on both parties, but do not imply sanctions in the event of violation. This is not expected to change with the additional protocol.
For Dutch trade minister Liesje Schreinemacher, there is, however, a strong commitment on the part of the Brazilians to combat legal and illegal deforestation. As to whether her country will support the agreement despite the vote of the House of Representatives in The Hague calling for it not to do so (see EUROPE 13126/30), the choice has not yet been made, she said: “We will have to discuss with our government how we will respond to this motion. We have always said that we will take a position on Mercosur once the full text is here”, she told EUROPE.
Calendar
The Swedish Presidency of the EU Council would like to see concrete progress on the agreement by the end of June. “We would love to conclude negotiations during the Swedish Presidency, but perhaps that is a bit too optimistic”, says Swedish trade minister Johan Forssell, who is confident that the agreement can be finalised soon after.
This calendar remains “worrying”, according to MEP Jorgen Warborn (EPP, Swedish), who is a strong supporter of the agreement: “We should push to speed this up, otherwise there may be no agreement at all. The European Parliament elections are coming up and we don’t know what the Chamber will look like after that. There will also be elections in Argentina soon, and then in Uruguay”, he told EUROPE. Even if an agreement is reached by the EU-CELAC summit in July, it will take several months for translation, legal review and ratification by the European Parliament, he recalled.
For his French colleague Marie-Pierre Vedrenne (Renew Europe), the Paris Agreement should be “truly binding”, i.e. accompanied by measures in the event of non-compliance. “The opportunity of Lula’s presidency should indeed allow us to foster a dialogue, as well as very strong ambitions on climate issues”, she insists. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)