Europe's highest court on Tuesday rejected Poland's request to suspend the provisional application of the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, the South American customs union that brings together Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), based in Luxembourg, found that Warsaw failed to provide concrete proof that the treaty would cause "serious and irreparable damage". The deal was signed on January 17 and has applied provisionally since May 1, according to Folha de S.Paulo and the outlet Notes from Poland.
The ruling exposes how divided the bloc is over the treaty. Germany and Spain pushed hard for the pact, while France, Poland, Hungary, Ireland and Austria criticized it fiercely, Folha reports, citing the AFP news agency. According to Notes from Poland, Poland tried to block the agreement at the European Council in January and lost, with 21 of the EU's 27 member states voting in favor. Farmers across Europe have staged repeated protests against the arrival of South American agricultural imports.
For Brazil, the largest economy in Mercosur, the effect is practical and immediate. The ruling keeps in force the rules that since May have made it easier to sell beef, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to Europe, while the EU exports cars, machinery, wine and alcoholic beverages to the bloc on better terms. The relief is only partial, though. Tuesday's judgment covered the suspension request alone, not the legality of the treaty, and final ratification still depends on political steps in Europe.
What the court said
The case, numbered C-460/26 R (Poland v Council), was filed by Warsaw days after the agreement entered provisional force. Poland argued that the way the deal was applied provisionally breached the EU treaties, and that liberalizing farm trade without imposing on Mercosur the same production standards required in Europe would create risks to health, the environment, farmers' income and the single market. The court rejected both arguments. It noted that Mercosur farm goods could already enter the EU before the deal and remain subject to food safety rules similar to those applied to European products, and that the treaty itself has tools to block non-compliant goods, including emergency measures. In the judges' reading, the Polish claims were general and abstract, and the tribunal summed up its conclusion in a sentence quoted by Notes from Poland:
"Poland has not provided any concrete evidence to establish the likelihood and imminence of serious and irreparable damage."
Reaction in Warsaw and what comes next
In Warsaw, government spokesman Adam Szłapka blamed the national-conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), which governed Poland from 2015 to 2023, the period when the details of the deal were negotiated. The party "failed to secure Polish interests in any way", said Szłapka, who argued that the current government obtained last-minute safeguards for farmers. He also said Polish farm exports to Mercosur have risen while imports have fallen, so "Polish farmers are profiting from this". The right-wing opposition read the court defeat differently. Marcin Przydacz, head of the foreign policy office of President Karol Nawrocki, wrote that the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk filed a case "so weak that they lost the request for interim relief" and concluded: "ineffective policy and ineffective government".
Tuesday's order is not the final word on the accord. In late January the European Parliament asked the CJEU to rule on the legality of the treaty, and a decision is expected only months from now, Folha reports. In the meantime the agreement continues to apply provisionally, and full ratification still requires approval by the European Parliament and by the national parliaments of member states. For Brazilian meat and grain exporters, this week's ruling removes an immediate obstacle, but the political fight over the treaty in Europe remains open.