EU-Mercosur Association Agreement

The briefing argues that the EU-Mercosur trade deal was concluded without a complete sustainability impact assessment (SIA), which the European Ombudsman identified as maladministration. It highlights concerns that the agreement could increase deforestation in Mercosur countries, particularly Brazil, and criticizes the European Commission's attempt to seek pre-ratification commitments rather than renegotiating the text. Furthermore, the document opposes any effort by the Commission to 'split' the trade and political components of the agreement to bypass the requirement for unanimity in the Council and ratification by the 27 EU Member State parliaments, asserting that such a move would violate the original 1999 mandate and principles of sincere cooperation.

• The European Commission concluded negotiations for the EU-Mercosur trade deal in June 2019 without completing the sustainability impact assessment (SIA), having only finished the first of three phases. The European Ombudsman ruled on 19 March 2021 that this failure to provide a timely assessment of social and environmental impacts constituted maladministration.
• A study commissioned by the French government suggests the agreement could accelerate deforestation by 5% per year during the first six years, primarily in Brazil, due to increased beef exports to the EU. This study concludes that the resulting climate impact would outweigh the expected economic gains of the agreement.
• The European Commission is pursuing pre-ratification commitments from Mercosur countries regarding climate and deforestation instead of reopening the agreement text, which Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis stated is already binding and enforceable.
• The EU-Mercosur Association Agreement is a 'mixed agreement' consisting of a political pillar and an economic/commercial pillar, meaning it requires unanimity voting at the Council and ratification by the national parliaments of all 27 EU Member States.
• The briefing argues against reports that the Commission may 'split' the trade part from the political part to create an 'EU-only FTA'. Such a move would bypass national ratification and is described as a violation of the 1999 negotiating mandate, the 2018 Council conclusions, and the principle of sincere cooperation under the TEU.

APA

Van den Berghe, A. (2021). EU-Mercosur Association Agreement. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2dh2elt/clientearth-eu-mercosur-agreement-governance-issues-in-eu-s-trade-decision-making.pdf

Chicago

Van den Berghe, Amandine. EU-Mercosur Association Agreement. ClientEarth, 2021. https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2dh2elt/clientearth-eu-mercosur-agreement-governance-issues-in-eu-s-trade-decision-making.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Van den Berghe |first1=Amandine |title=EU-Mercosur Association Agreement |publisher=ClientEarth |date=June 2021 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2dh2elt/clientearth-eu-mercosur-agreement-governance-issues-in-eu-s-trade-decision-making.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vandenberghe2021eumercosur, author = {Van den Berghe, Amandine}, title = {{EU-Mercosur Association Agreement}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/s2dh2elt/clientearth-eu-mercosur-agreement-governance-issues-in-eu-s-trade-decision-making.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }