Brazil’s Congress approves Mercosur–EU trade agreement
The Brazilian Senate unanimously approved on Wednesday (Mar. 4) the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, which had already been approved by the House of Representatives.
The Legislative Decree ratifying the agreement still needs to be promulgated by the President of Congress, Senator Davi Alcolumbre, an act that will conclude the incorporation of the trade pact into Brazilian law. This was the final step for the treaty’s terms to come into effect.
Under the treaty, the South American bloc, composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, will eliminate tariffs on 91 percent of European goods within 15 years. The European Union, in turn, will eliminate tariffs on 95 percent of goods exported by Mercosur within 12 years. In practice, the agreement establishes the world’s largest free trade area, with more than 720 million inhabitants.
The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) estimates that implementing the agreement could increase Brazilian exports by approximately USD 7 billion and further diversify Brazil’s international sales, benefiting the national industry as well.
Approval
The legislatures of Argentina and Uruguay had already approved the agreement last week. With the approval by both houses of the Brazilian National Congress, finalized this Wednesday, approval by the Paraguayan legislature, the fourth Mercosur member, is now awaited.
On the European Union side, the European Parliament requested in January that the bloc’s Court of Justice conduct a legal assessment of the agreement. However, last week, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that the EU will provisionally apply the agreement from May, even while the judicial review is still pending.
The treaty has strong support from countries such as Germany and Spain, but faces resistance mainly from France, which fears losing competitiveness in the agricultural sector.
