The EU-MERCOSUR agreement sits at the centre of the EU’s trade ambitions and its contradictions. It promises expanded market access, stronger ties with South America, and greater supply-chain diversification, yet it also exposes how agricultural sensitivities, environmental pressure, and legal contestation can make major trade agreements politically fragile. What appears to be an instrument of economic resilience also reveals the limits of EU trade governance when external liberalisation collides with internal political resistance.
This report argues that EU-MERCOSUR is therefore more than a trade deal. It is a test of whether the EU can align market opening with agricultural protection, climate credibility, and institutional coherence. A credible response requires stronger safeguards for sensitive sectors, more meaningful environmental oversight, and a clearer ratification path, so external trade ambition does not outpace internal political legitimacy.
