The EU-Mercosur trade agreement takes effect this Friday after 25 years of negotiations – with a major caveat. The deal applies only provisionally as the Court of Justice of the European Union considers its legality, after MEPs voted to refer the controversial deal to the court in January. This referral is typical of the long-running saga. The EU’s negotiations with the Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) began in 1999 and have seen several false dawns. In the European Parliament, the opposition has been most pronounced with alarms rung over the impact of cheap Brazilian beef entering Europe and…

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