European Commission proposes Mercosur and Mexico agreements for adoption

The European Commission on 3 September put forward its proposals to the Council for the signature and conclusion of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and the EU-Mexico Modernised Global Agreement (MGA).

On safeguards, the Commission proposes to supplement the EMPA with a legal act that operationalises the bilateral safeguards chapter of the EMPA. This act, to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, aims in particular at protecting EU's most sensitive agricultural sectors, recognising the concerns of European farmers. The Commission will address the issue with Mercosur countries.

An extract of the tariff elimination schedule for the EU for goods of interest to FRUCOM from Mercosur can be found here: FRUCOM products EU-Mercosur EU tariff liberalisation schedule

More information is available in the factsheet https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/api/files/attachment/881577/Factsheet%20EU-Mercosur%20-%20Agriculture.pdf

Next steps

The EMPA and the MGA require separate approval by the European Parliament and Member States before they each can enter into force. The Commission proposals for conclusion and signature include two parallel legal instruments for each agreement:

1. the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and the EU-Mexico Modernised Global Agreement (MGA), subject to separate ratification by all Member States; and

2. two Interim Trade Agreements (iTA), one for Mercosur and one for Mexico, covering only those parts of the EMPA and MGA that are of exclusive EU competence, to be adopted through the EU-only ratification process – that is, involving the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The iTAs will expire when the EMPA and the MGA enter into force.

The European Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič, discussed the agreement with journalists on 4 September, explaining how the safeguard clause will work, and the decision the Commission has taken to allow the interim application of the Trade Agreement.

FRUCOM will attend a Civil Society Dialogue by DG TRADE on the Mercosur and Mexico agreements on 5 September.

More information:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1644

Q&A Mercosur: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_24_6245

Speech by Maroš Šefčovič https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_25_2017

Contact: Lebo Mofolo, lmofolo@frucom.eu