In Schlagbaum 02/2026, we reported on the current state of play regarding the Mercosur free trade agreement. In the meantime, the texts of the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) and of the Partnership Agreement (EMPA) have been published in the Official Journal of the EU, L series, of 27 February 2026. Published in the same place were the two decisions by which the Council had approved the provisional application of the agreements. The decisions were adopted on 9 January, just under two weeks before the vote in the European Parliament in which a narrow majority of MEPs came out in favour of having the compatibility of the EU-Mercosur agreements, the ITA and the EMPA, with EU law reviewed by the CJEU. The wording of the decisions leaves the Commission no discretion (see Article 3(1)). By press release of 23 March 2026, the EU Commission has now announced that the interim agreement can be provisionally applied from 1 May 2026.
According to the decision (Article 3(1)), provisional application is conditional on the Mercosur states having formally notified the EU of the completion of their internal ratification procedures and having confirmed the provisional application of the ITA. Formally, only Paraguay’s notification of the completion of its ratification process is still outstanding; however, according to the press release of 23 March 2027, this is expected shortly. A further formal step for provisional application is that the EU must publish, in the Official Journal of the EU, the date from which the ITA is to be provisionally applied.
What does this new development mean for practice?
With the publication of the agreement texts in the Official Journal of the EU, economic operators may now name the Mercosur states in supplier’s declarations, since from this point on it is possible to consult and check the rules of origin, in particular the processing rules applicable to the products concerned. It is important, however, that the countries be marked with the note “from applicability.” As long as the date of provisional applicability has not yet been officially published in the Official Journal of the EU, no specific date for applicability should be stated in the supplier’s declaration; instead, the neutral wording “from applicability” should be used. Checking the list rule requirements will, however, remain laborious for the time being, since the preferential rules are not yet reflected in the wup.zoll.de database (as at 24 March 2026). It is therefore necessary to work from the published legal text. It should also be noted that traders who do not sufficiently process or work the goods themselves, but merely trade in them, may only list the countries with the corresponding note if their own upstream supplier has likewise named the Mercosur states in their supplier’s declaration.
Hanging over provisional application, however, remains the sword of Damocles of the CJEU review, along with the risk that the European Parliament may not give its consent to the agreement. Should the European Parliament ultimately refuse its consent to the ITA, this would presumably result in the termination of its provisional application. The consequences of such a development for the economy and for the EU’s trade policy are something one can, and would rather, not imagine. In these times of battered global trade policy, let us simply hope for the best
