New Delhi, March 1 -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that she will start to "provisionally implement" a massive trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of nations in South America despite not having approval from European Parliament.

The trans-Atlantic trade deal is expected to create one of the world's largest free trade zones covering more than 700 million people. Trade between the two tops 110 billion euro ($129 billion) and accounts for a quarter of global gross domestic product.

However, the deal has faced heavy criticism from Europe's agriculture sector and environmentalists - and will likely tough resistance by elected representatives in the European Parliament.

For now, von der Leyen's move means sh...