Paraguay says it will do so next week, and Argentina plans to do so in the first week of February.
On Friday, the European Commission also indicated that it is willing to proceed with the provisional application of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, shortly after the European Parliament’s decision to submit the agreement for legal review to the EU’s highest court.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that no formal decision had yet been made, adding that there is a "clear interest" in realizing the economic benefits of the agreement as quickly as possible. Several European leaders, such as German Chancellor Merz and Italian President Meloni, have pushed for this, as has the Parliament of the Netherlands.
The President of the European Council, AntĂ³nio Costa, also urges the Commission to move forward based on that decision. Supporters consider the European Parliament’s legal concerns to be a mere pretext, since the Mercosur agreement uses exactly the same legal construction as an earlier treaty with Chile, about which not a word was mentioned at the time.
Any European postponement would hinder the progress of an agreement that, after nearly 25 years of negotiations, is set to create the largest free trade zone in the world, with nearly 700 million consumers. The non-binding request for postponement also exposes tensions within the European bloc that go far beyond legal review or import tariffs.
The core of the delay does not lie in a technical-legal objection, but in a structural conflict. Large parts of European agriculture fear that broader market access for Mercosur will undermine their competitiveness in an increasingly strictly regulated environment.
The dissatisfaction is closely linked to the European Green Deal, which imposes strict environmental, hygiene, and production standards on EU agriculture, significantly increasing production costs. Critics point out that especially EU countries with large meat industries (such as Poland and France) might be affected by the new rules, although technological and industrial sectors (such as the German and Italian automotive industries) will benefit from them.
The Agriculture Ministers of the 27 EU countries will hold their monthly meeting on Monday in Brussels, where efforts will undoubtedly be made to somewhat mend the fractures in European decision-making. A qualified majority of the EU countries approved the agreement earlier this month. France has warned that sidelining the Parliament amounts to a "democratic violation."