EU-Mercosur deal ratification is moving fast in South America

The European Commission will provisionally implement the EU’s massive trade deal with Mercosur, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Friday — a maneuver that drew immediate fire from critics who said it circumvented democratic oversight. 

Meanwhile, on this side of the Atlantic, Mercosur legislators are moving with far less hesitation: lawmakers from two of the bloc's four member nations approved the agreement on Thursday.

The first to do so was Uruguay, where the lower chamber followed up on a unanimous Senate vote with a landslide 91-2 decision. The country’s foreign and economy ministers testified in Congress to defend the proposal, which Uruguay has broadly favored since the turn of the century.