Most Cypriot MEPs vote to send EU-Mercosur deal to court

Four of Cyprus’ six members of the European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favour of a motion to request an opinion from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the trade deal signed between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur.

The motion warned that the deal, which was signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Paraguay on Saturday, may be incompatible with existing EU law, and that guidelines for negotiation issued by the Council of the EU may not have been “respected” by the commission.

Akel’s Giorgos Georgiou was one of the motion’s signatories, and as such voted in its favour, and was joined in doing so by Elam’s Geadis Geadi, Diko’s Costas Mavrides, and independent Fidias Panayiotou.

Michalis Hadjipantela and Loucas Fourlas, both of Disy, voted against the motion.

The vote produced a tight result, with 334 MEPs voting in its favour and 324 against, while 11 abstained.

As a result, the European Parliament’s vote to ratify the deal, which had been expected to take place in February or March, will now not take place until after the ECJ delivers its ruling on the deal’s legality.

This process is expected to take at least a year, with some reports on Wednesday having suggested that a ruling may not be reached until 2028.

EU law does allow the deal to nonetheless be provisionally implemented without a vote in the European Parliament, though a decision to do this in light of Wednesday’s vote would be seen to sour relations between institutions in the bloc.

Even before Wednesday’s vote, EU director-general for trade Sabine Weyland had, according to news website Euractiv, reassured MEPs that the deal would not necessarily be automatically implemented without the parliament’s consent.

This notwithstanding, the commission was unable to hide its disappointment on Wednesday afternoon, with a commission spokesperson telling the Cyprus Mail that it “strongly regrets the decision”.

“This comes at a time when EU producers and exporters urgently need access to new markets, and when the EU must deliver on its diversification agenda and demonstrate that it remains a reliable and predictable trade partner,” it said, before saying that the questions raised by Wednesday’s motion “are unjustified”.

The Cypriot government had also been a fervent supporter of the deal, with Trade Minister Michael Damianos having told the Cyprus Mail that the agreement “creates clear and substantial benefits for the Republic of Cyprus, both in terms of trade and services, in an environment of increased international uncertainties”.

“By reducing or eliminating tariffs and establishing predictable rules, greater price stability and better conditions for Cypriot farmers, livestock breeders, and consumers has been ensured,” he added.

Meanwhile, a document sent to Cypriot MPs by the agriculture ministry, which was seen by the Cyprus Mail, stated that the government believes that the deal will “open up significant prospects for businesses and producers in Cyprus”.

“Cypriot businesses and small- and medium-sized enterprises will find it much easier and cheaper to operate in Mercosur countries,” Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, it said, with Cypriot companies in the service industry set to have “greater access” and able to “offer services more efficiently and with fewer administrative obstacles”.

However, some in Nicosia, too, were unconvinced by the promises of benefits from the deal, with House agriculture committee chairman and Akel MP Yiannakis Gavriel saying that  “a common finding of everyone except the executive branch [was] that this agreement, for the state of Cyprus, is, if not disastrous, to the detriment of the primary sector”.

He warned that Cypriot farmers “will be faced with unfair competition from Latin America”, and said that by endorsing the deal, the government “put a nail in the coffin of the primary sector and will supply us with products of dubious quality from Latin America”.