The EU-Mercosur agreement is likely to enter into force provisionally from March, says an EU diplomat

The EU’s free trade agreement with South American countries is likely to be provisionally implemented as early as March, an EU diplomat told Reuters on Thursday, despite an imminent challenge to the EU Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, EU lawmakers dealt a blow to the controversial trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay by referring it to the European Court of Justice, threatening to delay its entry into force by two years.

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

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