Poland will challenge the EU-Mercosur agreement at the Supreme Court. The agreement should enter into force on May 1
Poland announced on Friday that it will file a legal challenge against the EU-Mercosur trade deal at the EU's top court.
Mercosur agreement protests PHOTO: AFP
Poland announced on Friday that it will file a legal challenge against the EU-Mercosur trade deal at the EU's Supreme Court, in a largely symbolic gesture.
The waiver comes just weeks before the May 26 deadline for annulment actions under EU law and less than a month after Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the government had no such plans, Politico writes.
The move comes after weeks of domestic pressure. Poland's parliament passed a resolution in mid-March urging the government to act, and opposition-allied President Karol Nawrocki sent Tusk a letter in early April asking him to file the case immediately.
It also follows earlier – more effective – action by the European Parliament to refer the deal to the Court of Justice.
Backed by MEPs in January, the case could delay ratification of the full deal by up to two years. In an attempt to reap the benefits of the deal sooner, the European Commission will start applying its trade provisions from 1 May.
Poland's parallel filing adds political noise, not legal power.
Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the pro-farmer PSL party, said the complaint would target Mercosur's impact on food security and the procedure used to promote it.
“We will appeal this agreementhe said.Food security is threatened, consumer protection is threatened, and the way the agreement was implemented is not right.”
Agriculture Minister Stefan Krajewski, who is in charge of preparing the complaint, said he hopes to submit it before May 1. However, he could not say what specific legal arguments Poland would make, what results the complaint would achieve or whether Warsaw would try to suspend the provisional application of the agreement.
“We're working on it,” he repeatedly told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference in Warsaw on Friday.
Even at the end of March, Tusk had stated that the government saw no need to file its own complaint, arguing that a referral to Parliament was sufficient. She warned the European Commission in advance.
“I told them that nothing has changed in our critical assessment of certain aspects of Mercosur“, he said, adding that he asked Brussels “not treat this as a personal attack.”
