BRUSSELS — The EU Parliament is set to fast-track a vote on one of the final hurdles in front of the trade agreement with the Latin American Mercosur bloc, three parliament officials told POLITICO.

The rushed timeline comes as lawmakers come under massive political pressure to finalize legislative work over the additional instrument in time for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to fly to Brazil on Dec. 20 to sign the long-awaited accord.

The “cows for cars” deal, which has been in the works for a quarter century, would create a free-trade area spanning nearly 800 million people. In Europe, resistance to the accord has melted under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive — along with the pledge from Brussels to implement safeguards to protect European farmers from cheaper South American competition.

Once the Parliament’s trade committee approves proposed safeguards, which could happen by Monday, the plenary will vote on the issue as soon as Tuesday on whether to submit them to an urgent procedure. And if a majority of lawmakers approve the accelerated procedure, the safeguards are expected to be put to a vote on Thursday, the officials explained, on condition of anonymity

Under the safeguards, proposed forward in October, the European Commission would commit to closely monitor imports of sensitive farm products such as beef, poultry and sugar. This was perceived as an olive branch to assuage concerns from countries skeptical towards the massive trade deal, such as France and Poland.

The safeguards are set to be approved on Wednesday by the Council of the EU.

After that, EU institutions would need to rubber-stamp legislative work on the instrument, which was a key condition for France and others to support the overall agreement at a vote in the coming days.

In another crucial decision, the Conference of Presidents is expected Wednesday to reject a motion for a resolution requesting a court opinion on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement.

A large group of European lawmakers — counting between 140 and 150 MEPs — proposed a motion last week to ask the Court of Justice of the European Union to assess whether the accord with the Mercosur trade bloc is compatible with the European treaties.

The Conference of Presidents, chaired by Roberta Metsola of the European People’s Party and composed of all political group leaders, will reject the motion on the grounds that it’s not up to the Parliament to weigh on the texts yet, one of the officials said, as the Council of the EU still needs to vote on the pact.

The motion, if it had gone through, would have derailed efforts to get the long-awaited trade deal with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay over the finish line in time for the deal to be signed this year.

The text of the motion, supported by lawmakers from the EPP, Socialists and Democrats, Renew, the Greens and The Left group, seeks a legal opinion on a rebalancing mechanism baked into the deal. This provision, a first in EU trade agreements, foresees that either party can seek redress if it considers the other party has introduced a measure that “nullifies or substantially impairs” the benefits of the deal.

This story has been updated.