The European Commission has responded to a vote at the European Parliament today (Wednesday, January 21) in favour of referring the EU Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) to the courts, by stating that the questions raised about its legality are "unjustified".

Earlier today a motion put forward by more than 100 MEPs from across the EU to seek legal advice from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) about the trade deal's compliance with the Treaties of the EU was passed by a majority of MEPs.

The margin was tight, with 334 MEPs voting to refer the deal for expert legal opinion, and 324 voting against. There were 11 abstentions.

This afternoon the European Commission told Agriland that it "strongly regrets the decision by the European Parliament to seek an opinion from the ECJ on the compatibility of the EMPA and ITA with the Treaties".

"In the commission’s firmly held view, the three questions raised in the European Parliament’s motion regarding the agreement are unjustified," the spokesperson said.

The commission has emphasised that it has already addressed these issues extensively with the European Parliament, noting that they are not new and have been dealt with in previous agreements.

The commission said it will now engage with the European Council and MEPs before deciding on next steps.

Mercosur deal legal challenge

The MEPs who proposed the referral to the ECJ stated that they are concerned that the negotiation guidelines issued by the European Council may not be respected and that this may affect the voting rules in the Council and prevent national parliaments from having their legitimate say on the agreement.

The parliamentarians are also concerned that the rebalancing mechanism provided for in the EU Mercosur agreement could, at least, be incompatible with the Treaty and may threaten the EU’s ability to maintain the autonomy of the EU legal order.

They further stressed that they are concerned that the EMPA and the ITA may compromise the application of the precautionary principle, which could result in incompatibility with the Treaties.

It could take from 18-24 months for the relevant legal advice to be provided and the European Parliament has stated: "The European Parliament will continue its examination of the texts, while awaiting the opinion of the EU Court."

The trade deal element of the partnership agreement would see 99,000t of beef, mostly from Brazil, arrive into the EU on a reduced tariff of 7.5%.

In exchange, the EU will be able to export goods to the Mercosur countries at much more favourable tariffs, such as machinery and cars, but also agri-food produce such as olive oil and dairy.