If Argentina leaves Paris Agreement, Mercosur deal still stands for other countries

Brussels – The Free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur countries and the Paris Climate Agreement remain intertwined. The first does not exclude the other, and vice versa, and renouncing commitments to the environment and sustainability means triggering the suspension of the agreement the EU Commission reached in late 2024 with the South American bloc, but only for the country that should decide to reconsider the international treaty on ‘green’ commitments.

Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic explains the implications of a possible Argentine choice on climate change and global warming commitments. Argentine President Javier Milei floated the possibility of having his country withdraw from the UN climate accords, and the consequences of this choice would only partially affect the EU-Mercosur relations and the implementation of the trade agreement. “A suspension ‘in relation to a Mercosur State withdrawal from the Paris Agreement would not entail a suspension in relation to the other Mercosur States’,” Sefcovic explains.

Ue-Mercosur, Šefčovič rassicura gli agricoltori: “Non pagheranno per altri settori”

So, even if Argentina were to reconsider its sustainability commitments, the EU-Mercosur agreement would still be valid for Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In any case, the trade commissioner further explains that if and when Argentina decides to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, there could be different options. “Should a Party consider that the other Party has failed to comply with this essential element, that first Party is entitled to ‘ take appropriate measures,’ which ‘may include the suspension, in part or in full,” of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement, he stresses in the response to a parliamentary question. 

Sefcovic reiterates that compliance with sustainability commitments is integral to bilateral economic and trade relations. The trade commissioner notes that from a legal perspective, under the terms of the trade partnership agreement, each signatory is obliged “to remain a party, in good faith of the Paris Agreement,” which is an “essential element” of the EU-Mercosur agreement. The European Union will not stand idly by should Argentina change course, not least because that would mean different terms of production and sales, to the detriment of European producers subject to Green Deal rules.