MUMBAI: The European Union should move quickly to provisionally apply the EU–Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement and expedite provisional application of the EU–India free trade agreement to respond to urgent geopolitical pressures including from United States, a new report has said.
"The agreements with Mercosur and India would create the world’s two largest free trade zones and send a strong statement of enhanced cooperation between democracies in this age of great power rivalry and spheres of influence," the report from EU lawlive said.
It reminded that the United States was threatening its European allies with tariffs and military force.
"Advancing these agreements is exactly the spirit Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney invoked: creating ‘a new order’ based on ‘variable geometry’ but held together by the values of ‘human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity’," it noted.
The report noted that provisional application is legally available to the Council and Commission even as European Parliament referred EU-Mercosur agreements to the Court of Justice on January 21, 2026.
It argued that delaying the agreements with Mercosur and India risks casting doubt on the EU’s ability to engage with partners. The report argued that past precedents show provisional application of CETA and said even if the Court finds issues they could be remedied without halting provisional application.
“It would be a sad irony in history if the EU’s own premier democratic oversight institution were to derail the EU’s bold push to forge stronger ties with some of the world’s largest democracies. This is a time for boldness,” the report said.
The report said swift provisional application would demonstrate the EU’s reliability and agility to partners such as Mercosur and India, the report further said.
"Lastly, even if the Court finds certain problematic issues with the agreements, those might still be remedied without fully unpacking the agreements or discontinuing provisional application," the report said.