EU–Mercosur Association Agreement

The European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement is a proposed free trade agreement on which the European Union and Mercosur reached agreement in principle in 2019. The planned deal was announced on 28 June at the 2019 G20 Osaka summit after twenty years of negotiations. The agreement is praised but also criticized by NGOs, scientists, unions, farmers and indigenous people with both positive and negative aspects usually balanced during discussions.

Although agreement has been reached in principle, the final texts have not been finalised, signed, or ratified and therefore have not entered into force. If ratified, it would represent the largest trade deal struck by both the EU (449 million inhabitants) and Mercosur (260 million inhabitants), in terms of numbers of citizens involved. The draft trade deal is part of a wider Association Agreement between the two blocs. Besides trade, the association agreement would also deal with cooperation and political dialogue. Negotiations on these two parts were concluded on 18 June 2020. On 6 December 2024, an agreement on the free trade deal was announced. It is not yet approved and requires endorsement from at least 15 of the 27 EU member countries.