Ratification of the EU Mercosur agreement: France obtains a reprieve

Meeting for their biannual summit in Buenos Aires on Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 July, the South American Mercosur countries could only reiterate the importance for the region of the agreement signed at the end of 2024 between four of them – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay – and the European Commission, which is responsible for trade matters.

The treaty has still not been presented for ratification to the member states and the European Parliament. It has, however, been translated into legal language, and the EU executive was planning to publish its legislative proposal on Monday, July 30. But Brussels ultimately backed down, given the high political risks involved.

On Wednesday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva reiterated his belief that he would sign the agreement with the European Union (EU) "during [his] term as president of Mercosur," which has just begun and is due to end at the end of the year. "It will be the largest trade agreement in history, with 722 million inhabitants spread between the two blocs and a gross industrial product of 27 trillion dollars [22,965 billion euros], " he argued.

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