Nicușor Dan, about the EU-Mercosur agreement: “Extremely beneficial for Romania” / “It can bring a 10%-15% increase in the car industry” / “It has been debated for 25 years”
The President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, at the EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, January 22, 2026. Credit line: Harry Nakos / AP / Profimedia
President Nicușor Dan rejected the claims that the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur had not been debated and stated that Romania “has an official position formed for 10 years” on this subject.
Asked about this agreement, on Saturday, during press statements in Iași, the head of state described it as “something extremely beneficial for Romania”, saying that it can bring important additional income for the automotive industry, which ensures “about half” of the exports of around 90 billion euros that our country makes annually.
“So imagine what an additional market means for the entire European automotive industry, of which Romania is an important component. I estimate that it can bring a 10%, maybe 15% increase in the automotive industry in Romania. What would it mean for Romania, from an export of 42-43 billion euros, another 5 billion euros coming annually to Romania, in the Romanian industry?”, said Nicușor Dan.
“Mercosur has been debated for 25 years”
The head of state believes that for Romania this agreement “is an extremely, extremely serious matter”.
“Mercosur has been debated for 25 years. Romania has had an official position for 10 years. When I came to this position, I had a Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hurezeanu, I asked him what is Romania's position, Romania's position is in support of Mercosur”, stated the president.
Nicușor Dan said that during the negotiations “additional benefits” were obtained for farmers.
“When there were some question marks on the part of the farmers, about four to five months ago, Romanian farmers in a European federation of farmers, there was a coalition led by France on this subject, in the debate within the European Union, we agreed, we supported France in this debate and, following this debate within the Union in recent months, in this negotiation additional benefits were obtained for European farmers, including Romanian farmers”, he President Nicușor Dan also stated.
The trade agreement, sent by the EP for a judicial review
The European Parliament on Wednesday sent the trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) to a judicial review in a vote that could delay its entry into force by up to two years.
With a majority of only 10 votes, MEPs supported a resolution requesting the opinion of the EU Court of Justice on the conformity of the texts of the EU-Mercosur agreement with the EU treaties. The motion was passed – to the applause and cheers of its supporters – with 334 votes in favor, 324 against and 11 abstentions.
The Mercosur agreement, delayed by the vote of the EU Parliament. Chancellor Merz requests its provisional application. All eyes on the decision of the European Commission
Romanian MEPs from PSD and AUR voted “for” this initiative, while PNL and UDMR representatives voted “against”.
MEPs Șerban Dimitrie Sturdza and Claudiu Târziu (Conservative Action Party), Cristian Terheș (Romanian National Conservative Party) also voted for the referral to the CJEU. Nicu Ștefănuță and Luis Lazarus, who entered the EP on the lists of Diana Șoșoăca's party, voted in the same way.
How the Romanian MEPs voted on the referral to the Court of Justice in the case of Mercosur / “The votes of the PSD MEPs made the difference”
