The free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is well underway, said this Tuesday (6) the vice-president of the Republic and minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin. According to him, the Brazilian government maintains an optimistic stance regarding the conclusion of negotiations.
“The next agreement, the result of long work, more than two decades, is Mercosur-EU. It is well underway. I want to reiterate that we are optimistic and it is very important for Mercosur, for the European Union and for global trade which, at a time of wars, conflicts, unstable geopolitics, protectionism, will be the biggest agreement in the world”, said Alckmin in an interview to announce the result of the Brazilian trade balance in 2025.
Postponement
The signing of the treaty was scheduled for December, during the Mercosur summit, but ended up being postponed due to lack of consensus between European countries. The main resistance came from a conservative wing in Italy and, above all, from farmers in France, who pressured their governments against moving forward with the agreement.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently declared that France will not support the treaty without the inclusion of new safeguards to protect the country’s rural producers. Currently, France is the main focus of opposition to the agreement within the European Union.
Despite the difficulties, the European Commission reported on Monday (5) that progress had been made in negotiations to enable the approval of the treaty. Even so, there is no official confirmation for the signing.
Even after eventual signing, the agreement will need to complete a series of formal steps. In Brazil, the text must go through internal Executive and Legislative procedures, including analysis and voting in the National Congress. In Europe, the approval of the European Council and the European Parliament will be required, in addition to ratification by the national parliaments of the 27 member countries of the European Union.
Strategic importance
In an interview after the release of the 2025 trade balance data, Alckmin reinforced the strategic importance of the agreement in an international scenario marked by conflicts, geopolitical instability and the advance of protectionism. According to him, the Mercosur–EU treaty tends to become the largest trade agreement in the world, strengthening multilateralism and free trade.
The vice-president also highlighted that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s guidance is to prioritize dialogue and negotiation. In addition to the agreement with the European Union, the government is working to advance new partnerships in 2026, such as the treaty between Mercosur and the United Arab Emirates and the expansion of tariff preferences with India, Mexico and Canada.
When commenting on the performance of foreign trade, Alckmin highlighted that Brazilian exports grew 5.7% in 2025, more than double the projected growth in global trade, estimated at 2.4% by the World Trade Organization (WTO). He also highlighted Argentina as the country with the greatest expansion in purchases of Brazilian products last year, with an increase of 31.4%, driven mainly by the automotive sector.
