Examination of the EU-Mercosur agreement for legality by the ECJ

Representatives of the EU and the Mercosur states signed the joint free trade agreement on Saturday, January 17, 2026, in Paraguay's capital Asunción. The aim is to stimulate the exchange of goods and services by reducing trade barriers and tariffs. Immediately afterwards, the further treatment of the agreement was discussed in the EU Parliament, in particular two motions for resolutions were voted on ( B10-0060/2026 ; B10-0061/2026 ). Since the first proposal was accepted with a narrow majority, the ratification process is now temporarily suspended. Both applications called for a legal review of the EU-Mercosur agreement by the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Under the EU Treaties, Member States, the European Parliament, the Council or the European Commission are entitled to request such a legal review. If the ECJ comes to a negative conclusion, the agreement cannot enter into force unless it is amended accordingly. Attention: The voting results shown on the right only reflect the voting behavior of the 96 German MEPs and not that of all 720 MEPs. The voting results on motion for a resolution B10-0060/2026 are presented below. The motion for a resolution was adopted overall with 334 votes in favour, 324 against and eleven abstentions. Of the German MEPs, 35 voted for and 54 against. There was one abstention from Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA). The second motion for a resolution, however, was rejected with 402 votes against, 225 in favor and 13 abstentions.

Vote breakdown