The trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur should begin to apply provisionally in May, after a formal exchange of information between the European Commission and Uruguay, the first country to ratify.
Following the information that “provisional application will begin on the first day of the second month following the date on which the EU and Uruguay exchange verbal notes”, provided by a spokesperson for the European Commission, Montevideo clarified that it will “certainly be in May”.
From that moment on, the agreement will cover “all countries in the Mercosur organization that have already ratified the agreement”, a formality that Argentina has already completed.
On Friday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the decision to move forward with the provisional application of the trade agreement.
The agreement, signed on January 17 after more than 20 years of negotiations, aims to eliminate or drastically reduce customs duties between the two blocs.
In addition to the commercial part, the agreement also includes a political partnership, which must be ratified by all member states.
The texts have since been referred by the European Parliament to the EU Court of Justice for assessment of compliance with Community legislation.
The Southern Common Market (Mercosur) is a South American intergovernmental organization founded in 1991, with headquarters in Montevideo.
It is one of the largest economic blocs in terms of gross domestic product (GDP), the largest food producer in the world and includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Venezuela was suspended in December 2016. Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Panama are associated countries.
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