Peronism splits as Argentina backs EU-Mercosur deal

Argentina’s lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, has approved the text of the free-trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, sending the deal to the Senate for ratification.

With 203 votes in favour, 42 against and four abstentions, the agreement signed on January 17 in Asunción last month completed its passage through the lower house in the early hours of Friday morning, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The deal, which President Javier Milei’s ruling party caucus passed with the support of allies and dissident Peronists, would eliminate tariffs on more than 90 percent of Mercosur exports to Europe and reduce trade barriers for European industrial goods.

The EU-Mercosur treaty is expected to reach the Senate within two weeks for final approval. If that timetable is met, Argentina will become the first country to ratify the sweeping trade accord.

The deal was inked on January 17  in Asunción, Paraguay – which currently holds Mercosur’s rotating presidency – during a ceremony attended by President Milei and counterparts Santiago Peña (Paraguay) and Yamandú Orsi (Uruguay). Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was absent.

Its implementation would create the largest free-trade area in the world, linking the European Union’s 27 member states with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – a combined market of some 700 million people.

But the pact has faced fierce resistance in several European countries, most notably France, particularly over its potential impact on the nation’s agricultural and livestock sectors.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli