The outcome of Wednesday's European Parliament vote on the resolutions requesting an opinion from the EU Court of Justice on the conformity of the Mercosur agreements with the EU treaties will be quite tight, declared MEP Siegfried Muresan on Monday, stressing that the EU legislature would make a mistake if it voted to refer the agreement to the CJEU.
"Basically, if the European Parliament were to vote to refer this agreement to the Court of Justice, it would raise questions about the agreement itself and about Parliament's own capacity to legislate. Members are required to analyze, work on proposals and vote in full knowledge of the facts. They cannot abandon their obligation to legislate through a referral," said Muresan, who also serves as Vice-President of the European People's Party Group, during a briefing for Romanian journalists.
He argued that such a move would weaken the institution "especially now, when the whole world is looking to the European Union", noting that partners such as India "need to see the EU's ability to act".
"The decision taken by the leaders of the largest pro-European groups not to ratify the agreement with the United States for the time being shows the power the European Parliament can have. It is a position that has also been taken into account in Washington, both by the American administration and by Congress, and the European Parliament would make a mistake if it now shied away from the responsibility of ratifying the agreement with the Mercosur states and sent it to the Court of Justice," Muresan said.
However, he acknowledges that there is no clear majority against the two resolutions to request an opinion from the CJEU.
"Free trade enjoys a majority in Parliament, but we see an alliance of anti-European forces, sovereignists and left-wing parliamentarians against international trade. The majority is under pressure. I think the result will be close, but Parliament would make a mistake if it voted for referral to the Court," said the Liberal MEP.
However, a unanimous vote against this request is not expectable, not even within the EPP Group, although "the official position of the EPP Group is not to seek such an opinion".
"We support the agreement with Mercosur states because of the protection clauses for farmers. I myself, as Vice-President of the EPP Group responsible for the budget and agricultural policies, supported and worked last year to secure these safeguard clauses. The EPP Group considers the current form of the agreement with Mercosur states to be a good one, our stance is supportive. There are also very few delegations or individual members within the group who will vote for referral to the court, but they are a minority," Muresan also said.
The remarks come after the signing of the Partnership Agreement and Interim Trade Agreement on Saturday in Paraguay. On Wednesday, the European Parliament plenary will vote on two proposals requesting the EU Court of Justice to assess the legal basis of the accords.
If approved, the referral would trigger legal reviews by the CJEU before MEPs and member states can proceed with ratification, the European Parliament said in a statement.
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