Filenews 17 December 2025
The European Parliament's plenary today approved, by 431 votes in favour, 161 against and 70 abstentions, the safeguard clauses proposed by the European Commission under the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay).
The decision paves the way for the start of trilogue negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, which start as early as this afternoon. The aim is to reach an agreement before 19 December, the date on which the EU-Mercosur Agreement is scheduled to be signed, so that the European institutions can authorise Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to sign on behalf of the Union in time.
Critical clauses for the agricultural sector
The adopted measures were tabled by the Commission after voting against the reference to the Mercosur Agreement in a European Parliament Resolution of 8 October 2025 on the EU's strategy in Latin America. They are a decisive factor for member states such as France and Italy, which have expressed strong reservations over time about the risk of destabilization of European agricultural markets due to imports of cheaper products.
MEPs approved lower trigger thresholds for protectionist measures, foreseeing that the European Commission would have to investigate imports of beef and poultry from Mercosur when quantities increase by more than 5% compared to the previous three-year average, up from 10% in the original proposal.
At the same time, products will be classified as "problematic" if their prices are at least 5% lower than European prices, from 10% previously. An important addition is the reciprocity clause, according to which Mercosur countries will have to apply European production standards in order to gain access to the EU market.
Tight timelines and political pressures
Despite the approval of the clauses, the main issue remains the speed of the negotiations, as the European Union will have to decide within the next few days whether to proceed with the signing of the Agreement. This requires convergence between institutions and clear political will.
The Council of the EU has already adopted the Commission's initial proposal, which complicates the negotiations, as the amendments pushed by the European Parliament — both in the Trade Committee (INTA) and in plenary — will have to be re-approved by the 27 member states, with the outcome considered uncertain, especially under such a tight timeframe.
In addition, the negotiations may be affected by the EU Summit taking place tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in Brussels, where the leaders of the member states are invited to make final decisions on the financing of Ukraine for the period 2026-2027.
