EU’s neighbours strike Mercosur trade deal as Brussels awaits
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Euractiv | 3 juillet 2025
EU’s neighbours strike Mercosur trade deal as Brussels awaits
by Maria Simon Arboleas
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) has clinched a trade agreement with Mercosur, welcoming South American agricultural products, which remain the main stumbling block for EU ratification.
After a decade of negotiations, EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) on Wednesday finalised a trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
The deal will scrap or reduce duties on almost all trade flows, including key agricultural products such as Brazilian poultry and Argentinian beef, as well as Norwegian salmon.
In a joint statement, both sides pointed to an agreement encompassing almost 300 million people and 97% of their exports, expressing hopes to sign the deal “in the coming months”.
Meanwhile, the EU’s own trade agreement with Mercosur – reached last December after 25 years of talks – is moving slower.
The Commission was expected to present the final legal text last Monday, but it remains in the drawer.
The Council’s Trade Policy Committee (TPC) – a bridge between the Commission and the member states, where diplomats sit – dropped Mercosur from its draft agenda for Thursday’s meeting.
Instead, the committee will focus on trade relations with China and especially the US – no surprise given the looming threat of Washington’s tariffs, set to hit after the 9 July deadline for negotiations.
EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič flew to the US for last-ditch talks with senior American officials on Wednesday and Thursday.
Concerns over food, here and there
In Brussels, uncertainty over when the text will see the light of the day has the agricultural sector on edge.
On Wednesday, the EU farm lobby Copa and Cogeca joined forces with representatives of young and small farmers, as well as agricultural workers, to slam the deal yet again. The coalition sent a letter to EU farm ministers and the Parliament’s international trade committee (INTA), begging them not to ratify the text when the time comes.
Farmers in EFTA countries have shown little enthusiasm for their own deal. During the negotiations, agricultural groups in EFTA members warned Mercosur imports would deepen their dependence, stressing their long-standing struggle with low food self-sufficiency.
Norway has notably maintained a protectionist approach in agriculture, which remains excluded from its participation in the EU single market.
