The move could derail a tight timetable aimed at signing the mega trade deal before the end of the year.
BRUSSELS — The European Parliament wants stricter conditions for activating safeguard measures in the EU-Mercosur trade deal, according to compromise amendments seen by POLITICO.
The move risks putting the Parliament at odds with EU countries and the European Commission — and could upset the tight timetable for signing the mega trade deal before the end of the year.
Approving the safeguard workaround will determine whether France and other skeptical countries can back the overall text in mid-December. The safeguards, proposed by Brussels, aim to protect European farm markets in the event of a sudden influx of beef, poultry or sugar from the Latin American bloc, which groups Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The international trade committee will vote on the text on Monday, paving the way for a plenary vote on Dec. 16.
The outcome of these votes will determine whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen can fly, as is now planned, to Brazil on Dec. 20 for a signing ceremony with her Mercosur counterparts. Signing the deal would be a major win for the Commission after talks spanning a quarter of a century.
Under the compromise package, led by center-right lawmaker Gabriel Mato, the European Parliament would halve the initial thresholds that would require the European Commission to start an investigation.
Such an investigation would be triggered if imports of sensitive products from the Mercosur countries, like beef or poultry, rise by more than 5 percent compared to the previous three-year average, and if those imports are priced at least 5 percent below comparable EU products. In the original Commission proposal, both thresholds were set at 10 percent.
Lawmakers also call for the Commission to complete investigations within three months instead of six. For the more sensitive products, they want the Commission to conclude such probes in two months instead of four, and to impose provisional measures within 14 days of launching the probe, rather than the 21 days originally foreseen.
Out of the initial 258 amendments introduced by lawmakers, Mato, whose country, Spain, has been a fierce supporter of deepening ties with Latin America, admitted four compromise amendments, the text shows.
The Council of the EU, representing EU governments, for its part, has introduced no amendments in its own position on the text.