Austria’s parliament has emerged as a key threat to the EU trade agenda by threatening not to ratify an accord with South American nations that Brussels agreed in June.
Only 10 days before Austria’s election, a committee in Vienna’s lower house on Wednesday adopted a motion that obliges the Austrian government to veto ratification of the EU-Mercosur accord in the Council of the EU, which is expected in the second half of 2020 at the earliest. The committee vote is binding and does not need further confirmation in plenary.
Vienna’s move heaps more trade-related pressure on incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is already facing an impending tariff war with U.S. President Donald Trump. It also revives the specter of 2016 when the regional Walloon parliament in southern Belgium almost scuppered Europe’s trade deal with Canada.
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If Austria sticks to its guns, its veto would sound the death knell for the agreement because EU countries decided last year that the Mercosur deal would have to be ratified as a “mixed agreement,” requiring unanimity in the Council. The accord also needs to pass a vote in the European Parliament and in about 40 national parliaments across Europe.
“The Austrian parliament is not alone in this,” Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, tweeted on Thursday. “We must not conclude any agreement if it is clear from the outset that the contracting parties will not comply with important elements and that there is no means for effective enforcement of the provisions of the agreement.”
Source: Austria threatens to blow up EU trade deal with South America
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