EU Lawmakers Send Mercosur Deal for Legal Test at Top Court
Screens displaying the results of the vote on the Mercosur deal, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, on Jan. 21.
Photographer: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty ImagesThe European Parliament voted to submit a landmark trade deal with South American countries for judicial review by the bloc’s top judges, risking further delays to the Mercosur pact, which has already been a quarter century in the making.
EU lawmakers made the decision Wednesday, which will send the agreement with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay to the EU’s Court of Justice for a legal assessment before Parliament ratifies it. Some EU lawmakers have argued that not every element of the pact is legal, but others insisted the judicial referral was merely a stalling tactic pushed by the deal’s opponents.