European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, February 27, 2026. SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP
Ursula von der Leyen wasted no time; in fact, she acted in haste. Less than twenty-four hours after Uruguay and Argentina ratified the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur – which also includes Brazil and Paraguay – the Commission president announced on Friday, February 27 that the deal would soon enter into provisional application, without waiting for the legislative process to be completed.
The Commission, to which member states have delegated their authority over trade matters, is within its rights to do so. There are precedents, such as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada, which has been in force for eight years, even though not all national parliaments were consulted.
However, in the case of the EU-Mercosur trade deal, the European Parliament has not yet voted on the agreement. Only the member states adopted it on January 9 by qualified majority, against the opposition of France, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Hungary. Moreover, on January 21, members of the European Parliament decided to refer the free trade agreement to the Court of Justice of the European Union and to await the judges’ opinion before making a decision.
You have 83.53% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.