Source: European Parliament
Sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) are independent assessments produced by external consultants on behalf of the Commission.
These usually analyse the impact of trade agreements on the EU as a whole. Similarly, the Commission is currently analysing the economic impact of the negotiated outcome which is expected to be concluded before the proposal for signature and conclusion is sent by the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament.
Member States are free to carry out their own SIAs based on their perceived exposure to the agreement. For instance, the Irish government requested an independent economic and sustainability impact assessment for Ireland of the EU-Mercosur Agreement[1].
The Belgian government commissioned an independent economic impact assessment for Belgium of the EU-Mercosur Agreement on the impact for Belgian economic sectors[2].
Another study was carried out by Wageningen Economic & Research[3] assessing the impact of the EU-Mercosur Agreement on the Netherlands.
Now that a final political agreement has been reached between the EU and Mercosur, and after completion of the legal verification and translation into all official languages, the Commission will transmit a proposal to the Council and the European Parliament for signature and conclusion of the agreement.
In that context, the Commission will present its proposal for the legal basis and architecture of the deal after an assessment of the outcome of the negotiations.
- [1] https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1c8a6-economic-and-sustainability-impact-assessment-for-ireland-of-the-eu-mercosur-trade-agreement/
- [2] https://economie.fgov.be/fr/publications/accord-de-libre-echange-entre
- [3] Wageningen University & Research — Report 2020-065: Effecten van het EU-Mercosur akkoord op de Nederlandse economie: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/effecten-van-het-eu-mercosur-akkoord-op-de-nederlandse-economie