BERLIN, Jan 22 (Reuters) – The EU’s free trade deal with South American countries will probably be applied on a provisional basis as ‌soon as March, an EU diplomat told Reuters on Thursday, despite a looming challenge at the bloc’s top court.

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“The EU-Mercosur agreement shall be applied provisionally once the first Mercosur country has ratified it,” an EU diplomat told Reuters.

“That ‌will probably be Paraguay in March,” the diplomat added.

GERMAN BUSINESSES, CHANCELLOR MERZ CONDEMN DELAY

“The setback undermines Europe’s competitiveness and jeopardizes European jobs and prosperity,” Tobias Meyer, CEO of the logistics group DHL, told Reuters. He said it would be good if the pact could be enacted while the court investigated.

“Europe cannot afford to fall behind further,” he ⁠added.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz told delegates at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos on Thursday that he ‍regretted the European Parliament’s decision.

“But rest assured: We will not be stopped. The Mercosur deal is fair and balanced. There is no alternative to ‌it if ‌we want to have higher growth in Europe,” Merz said.

Critics of the deal, led by France, say it will increase imports of cheap beef, sugar and poultry and undercut domestic farmers.

French farmers have staged major demonstrations in Paris against the trade deal with hundreds of tractors blocking roads and landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower.

FRANCE SAYS PROVISIONAL IMPLEMENTATION WOULD BE UNDEMOCRATIC

The head of France’s CGB ⁠sugar beet producers’ lobby rejected any ⁠possibility of the accord taking ​effect provisionally.

“That would be a denial of democracy. Unacceptable!” Franck Sander told Reuters.

A spokesperson for France’s farm minister declined to comment.

Applying the pact provisionally, pending the ruling and parliamentary approval, could prove politically difficult given the likely backlash, and the European Parliament would retain the power to annul ‍it later.

“If (European Commission President) Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union, were to force through a provisional application, given the vote that took place in Strasbourg, it would constitute a form of democratic violation,” French government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told CNews TV, speaking before the EU diplomat’s comments.

The European Commission ​has said it will engage with EU governments and lawmakers before deciding what ‍to do next.

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