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Mercosur: MEPs will vote on 21 January on a possible referral to the courts

by AI | 14.Jan 2026 | Europe in brief AI

The European Parliament will vote next Wednesday on the possible referral to the courts against the trade agreement between the EU and the Latin American Mercosur countries, which is to be signed on Saturday in Paraguay, parliamentary sources told AFP.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, arrives in Montevideo on December 6, 2024 for the 65th Mercosur summit. The free trade agreement is to be signed on January 17 in Paraguay. (Photo: Eitan ABRAMOVICH / AFP)

Brussels – Hostile to this free trade agreement, around 150 MEPs have initiated a procedure to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This vote, scheduled for January 21 and necessary to move it forward, is separate from the Parliament’s final vote on the agreement as a whole, which is not expected before February at the earliest.

In a hemicycle of 720 MEPs, if a majority supports referring the matter to the CJEU, “this would have the effect of freezing the ratification process” in Parliament “for at least six months until the Court’s opinion,” said French centrist MEP Pascal Canfin in November. The outcome of the vote, however, appears uncertain.

A provisional application of the agreement is “legally possible,” even before ratification by the European Parliament, Brussels indicated on Monday, but the decision has not been made at this stage.

“The treaty allows for this possibility” of provisional application, said Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission. (January 14, 2026)