San Francisco Frontiers - EU parliament refers Mercosur trade deal to bloc's top court

Signed on Saturday with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, the pact to create one of the world's largest free trade areas has been fiercely opposed by farmers' groups backed by France and others.

Lawmakers in Strasbourg voted 334 to 324 in favour of asking the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine whether the deal is compatible with the bloc's policy.

Hundreds of farmers had gathered with tractors outside the parliament building ahead of Wednesday's vote -- and the demonstrators erupted in celebration as the result came in.

The court will now have to assess the legal challenge, a process that could delay and even derail a deal seen as a cornerstone of a Brussels push to open up new markets.

The European Commission, which championed and negotiated the pact, opposed the lawmakers' decision.

"According to our analysis, the questions raised in the motion by the parliament are not justified because the commission has already addressed those questions and issues in a very detailed way," European Commission trade spokesman Olof Gill told reporters in Brussels.

The deal favours European exports of cars, wine and cheese, while making it easier for South American beef, poultry, sugar, rice, honey and soybeans to enter Europe.

This has angered many European farmers, who have rolled tractors into Paris, Brussels and Warsaw to protest a feared influx of cheaper goods produced with lower standards and banned pesticides.

"We've been on this for months and months, for years," a euphoric Quentin Le Guillous, head of a French young farmers group, told AFP outside the EU parliament.

"Tonight, I'm going home, I'm going to kiss everyone, and I'm going to tell my kids, 'I got it, we got it, we can be proud,'" he said.

G.Allen--SFF