bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo
  1. Negotiations

EU-Mercosur

Late 1995, the European Union initiated negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement with Mercosur (common market between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) as a reaction to the US’ push for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). A political agreement was reached in June 2019 but the deal is yet to be signed.

The EU-Mercosur FTA — which could be termed an inter-regional agreement, or more accurately a bilateral agreement between two common markets — was slated to be completed in October 2004. But the two sides failed to agree on each other’s final offers. Among other things, Mercosur was not satisfied with the EU’s agricultural market access provisions while the EU complained of the lack of Mercosur proposals to open their telecommunications sector and to upgrade protection of European geographical indications. More generally, commentators blamed the failure of the talks on mutual lack of political will.

Discussions resumed in 2005 and the EU planned to reach an agreement by 2006; however, the resumption of negotiations has been put off indefinitely due to the resistance of South American countries to opening up certain markets and to the European rejection of demands to cut agricultural subsidies.

In 2010, negotiations began again, although with many ups and downs. With political changes in Latin America, the negotiations sped up, as the Mercosur countries gave up some of their “red lines” in the negotiations, allowing the EU to lower its beef and ethanol quotas. Eventually talks took place without substantial results.

Negotiations were relaunched in 2016 and they seemed to be on the verge of closing in 2017 and 2018. Talk about a “trade war”, especially between US and China, hurried parties to conclude the talks. Following the leak of draft texts (February 2018), civil society organizations from both sides of the Atlantic were critical of the deal’s impact on jobs, small and medium enterprises, access to public services (such as medicines), public-interest regulations and on the environment.

On 28 June 2019, the EU and Mercosur inked a political agreement, days after more than 340 social movements from both sides demanded the negotiations be halted on the grounds of deteriorating human rights and environmental conditions in Brazil, under new far right president Jair Bolsonaro.

Even though the final text has not been finalized yet, it is known that the agreement will open the EU market to 99,000 tons of beef and 180,000 tons of poultry produced in Latin America, which has attracted the ire of Irish and French farmers. 355 European and 220 Mercosur geographical indications of food, wine and spirit products will be protected. The deal has been criticized for benefitting agribusiness.

The latest released version of the intellectual property chapter requires parties to join either UPOV78 or UPOV91 Conventions, a set of plant variety protection patent-like rules that promote the privatization of seeds and prevent farmers from saving seeds. It doesn’t extend medicines patents beyond TRIPs (Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property rights) standards, unlike other modern trade deals such as the new NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).

Some groups in Latin America blasted the agreement, saying that liberalizing the public procurement market will hinder domestic efforts to implement regional development policies and trade rules that include stronger environmental and social standards.

Supporters of the agreement claim it would force Brazil to replant 12 hectares of trees in the Amazon rainforest. But in August 2019, as wildfires were devastating the area, France, Ireland and Luxembourg threatened to block the agreement, unless Brazil honoured its environmental commitments.

The texts that have been released so far by:
• Uruguay (July 2019): https://www.bilaterals.org/?eu-mercosur-fta-texts-jul-2019
• the EU (July 2019): https://www.bilaterals.org/?eu-mercosur-fta-texts-eu-jul-2019
• Argentina (September 2019): https://www.bilaterals.org/?eu-mercosur-fta-texts-argentina

The leaked EU negotiating mandate (in French): https://www.bilaterals.org/?ue-mercosur-directives-de

Luciana Ghiotto (Attac Argentina) contributed to this text

last update: September 2019
Photo: Stop TTIP Italia

EU kickstarts Mercosur pact to counter US trade hit
4-May-2026 Reuters
The European Union and Mercosur will implement a contentious free trade agreement, which the EU hopes will benefit exporters and calm critics, although it cannot fully offset the impact of US tariffs or the fierce competition from Chinese rivals.
Poland to challenge EU-Mercosur deal at top court — but don’t expect fireworks
27-Apr-2026 Politico
Warsaw’s legal challenge is unlikely to derail the trade deal. But it might get the opposition off the government’s back.
The EU-Mercosur agreement could tap a new source of critical minerals for the West
22-Apr-2026 Peterson Institute for International Economics
The EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement would create the first binding legal framework aimed at reducing China’s chokehold on critical mineral processing and shifting part of that processing to South America.
EU–Mercosur trade deal to take provisional effect from 1 May
24-Mar-2026 Euractiv
EU says businesses, consumers and farmers can benefit immediately.
Adding fuel to the climate crisis: the EU-Mercosur agreement
19-Mar-2026 Power Shift
This publication provides an overview of the consequences of the EUMercosur agreement in relation to deforestation, environmental destruction and climate change.
Paraguay becomes final South American country to approve Mercosur-European Union trade deal
18-Mar-2026 AP
Paraguay became the latest and final South American country to ratify the landmark free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, which will establish one of the world’s largest free trade zones.
Report of the 5th round of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Philippines
13-Mar-2026 European Commission
The 5th round of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and the Philippines took place between 2 and 6 March 2026 in Brussels.
EU Commission moves to apply Mercosur trade deal from May
13-Mar-2026 Politico
Brussels now needs to formally notify the South American group of its intention to provisionally implement the accord.
AFTINET submission to reviews of ISDS in agreements with Egypt and Eastern European countries
5-Mar-2026 AFTINET
The submission recommends that Bilateral Investment agreements with Hungary, Poland, Czechia, Lithuania and Romania should be terminated without sunset clauses, which preserve existing investor rights to sue after agreements are terminated.
Brazil’s Senate ratifies Mercosur free trade deal with European Union
5-Mar-2026 France 24
Brazil has formally ratified a landmark free trade deal with the European Union, joining Argentina and Uruguay in creating one of the world’s largest trade blocs.