European Parliament votes to refer EU-Mercosur trade agreement to EU Court of Justice for judicial review
"European Parliament freezes Mercosur deal, referring it to EU Court of Justice", 21 January 2026
After clearing major political hurdles after more than two decades, the mammoth trade deal now faces further delay pending a judicial verdict.
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to refer the EU-Mercosur trade agreement to the EU Court of Justice, a move that significantly delays the deal and could potentially derail its final approval. As expected, the vote was tight, with 334 MEPs in favour of the referral, 324 against, and 11 abstaining...
The agreement was signed on 17 January, and is set to create a free trade area of over 700 million people. It is controversial across Europe, and several countries like France and Poland have steadfastly opposed it...
The Court will now consider whether the trade deal is compatible with EU treaties...
The European Commission can still go ahead with a provisional application of the deal while the Parliament’s appeal is being examined, despite committing in several emails sent to MEPs and seen by Euronews that it would refrain from doing so.
This is technically possible, as a Commission spokesperson made clear, but risks straining relations between the EU institutions...