MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Argentina’s risk rating under the Deforestation Regulation in the context of the EU-Mercosur Agreement – E-002445/2025

Question for written answer  E-002445/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Saskia Bricmont (Verts/ALE), Catarina Vieira (Verts/ALE), Marie Toussaint (Verts/ALE)

On 20 May 2025, the Commission presented the risk classification[1] related to the Deforestation Regulation[2] (EUDR). A few days later, the President of Argentina, Javier Milei, complained that his country had been assigned a standard risk rating[3]. He expected his country to be granted a more favourable status, based notably on Article 29 of the EUDR and the recent Annex to the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter of the EU-Mercosur Agreement[4]. According to paragraph 56 of this agreement, ‘the EU recognises that this Agreement and actions taken to implement [sustainability measures affecting trade and the placement on the market related to the protection of wooded ecosystems] shall be favourably considered, among other criteria, in the risk classification of countries’.

• 1.Do our trade partners still enjoy the possibility of obtaining a reclassification of their status?
• 2.Could Argentina in theory challenge the classification under the rebalancing mechanism[5] of the same agreement (once it has entered into force) on the grounds that the implementing regulation is a measure[6] taken after the conclusion of the negotiations on 6 December 2024 as per the agreement? What will be the Commission’s line of defence if an arbitration panel is established?

Submitted: 18.6.2025

• [1] https://environment.ec.europa.eu/publications/commission-implementing-regulation-laying-down-rules-application-deforestation-regulation_en.
• [2] Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of 31 May 2023 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1115/oj.
• [3] https://en.mercopress.com/2025/05/31/argentina-objects-to-eu-s-deforestation-standard-risk-rating.
• [4] https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/09242a36-a438-40fd-a7af-fe32e36cbd0e/library/19d538eb-d33c-4039-8afa-42dfe7cc66b6/details?download=true.
• [5] https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/09242a36-a438-40fd-a7af-fe32e36cbd0e/library/49754ce8-9abb-4ff6-8537-57579d350770/details?download=true.
• [6] https://circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/09242a36-a438-40fd-a7af-fe32e36cbd0e/library/9c292f66-2749-4bdb-9da5-658c4518dee9/details?download=true.