EU court rejects Poland’s request to suspend provisional application of MERCOSUR agreement — Notes from Poland
The Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected Poland’s request to suspend the provisional application of the trade agreement between the EU and the MERCOSUR bloc. The court concluded that Poland had not provided concrete evidence of the likelihood and imminence of serious and irreparable harm, Notes from Poland reports.
Poland’s arguments
Poland has long criticized the arrangements with MERCOSUR, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The country’s authorities expressed concern about the potential impact of agricultural imports from these states on Polish farmers, who have repeatedly protested against the agreement.
In January, Poland failed to block the agreement in the European Council: it was supported by 21 of the EU’s 27 member states. The document still requires final ratification by the European Parliament and national parliaments, but its provisional application began on 1 May. After that, Poland appealed to the Court of Justice of the EU, demanding that implementation of the arrangements be halted until a final ruling in the case.
In its lawsuit, Poland stated that the procedure for the provisional application of the agreement violates the EU treaties. It also argued that liberalizing trade in agricultural products without identical production standards in the EU and MERCOSUR countries creates risks for human and animal health, the environment, farmers’ incomes and the functioning of the EU market.
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The court’s position and reactions
The court noted that agricultural goods from MERCOSUR had been imported into the EU even before the provisional application of the agreement began. They were, and continue to be, subject to food safety and health protection rules similar to those applied to products manufactured in the EU.
In addition, the agreement provides mechanisms for banning goods that do not meet standards, including emergency measures in the event of a serious threat to the lives of people, animals or plants. The court called Poland’s claims of possible harm to farmers and markets general and abstract, as they contained no evidence of a likely disruption to market functioning.
Polish government spokesperson Adam Szłapka placed responsibility for the details of the agreement on the previous Law and Justice government, which was in power in 2015–2023. He also said that under the new agreement, exports of Polish agricultural products to MERCOSUR had increased, while imports from there had declined. Marcin Przydacz, President Karol Nawrocki’s foreign policy representative, by contrast, criticized Donald Tusk’s government for failing to form a blocking coalition in the European Council.
