From Brazil to Brussels: What's the beef with the Mercosur trade deal?

The Mercosur agreement, the EU-India deal, the Antwerp meeting between EU top leaders and industry representatives, and yesterday’s informal EU leaders’ retreat have all brought the state of the EU’s economy back into the spotlight.

Are trade deals like the EU-Mercosur agreement one of the answers?

To dig deeper, Brussels’ My Love? talked to Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva, Brazil’s ambassador to the EU, Adélaïde Charlier, climate and human rights advocate and Teresa Küchler, EU affairs correspondent for Svenska Dagbladet.

The EU-Mercosur agreement: between opportunities and risks

On 17 January, after 25 years of talks, the EU and the Latin Amercian Mercosur bloc signed a historic trade agreement creating a 700 million-person free-trade area.

The European Parliament later voted to refer the deal to the EU Court of Justice on 21 January, a move that delayed the agreement and could derail its final approval.

Küchler, who spent years covering this topic, says it’s a done deal: “I think now it [the deal] will pass, and it’s because of Donald Trump and the new notion of needing new friends”.

According to Küchler, France, a vocal opponent of the deal, voted against it knowing that there would have been a majority in favour in order to preserve farmers’ votes ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

The deal has sparked discontent among European farmers, who fear increased competition, as well as among environmental activists and non-governmental organisations.

“They don’t feel comfortable with this agreement because it’s still really lacking assurances to make sure that this agreement is not going to weaken our environmental policies, which are already at stake today,” Charlier explained.

A view that Brazil’s ambassador to the EU does not share: “I have a lot of trouble understanding those who speak for the environment to be against an agreement that will reinforce cooperation and coordination with our countries.”

According to da Costa e Silva, the EU-Mercosur agreement is “one of the most advanced agreements in terms of trade and sustainable development,” and even without an agreement, the trade between the two blocs would continue.

The EU’s competition puzzle

But trade is not the only strategy to revive the EU’s economy.

On Wednesday, top EU leaders met with some of the most influential industrial executives in Antwerp, Belgium. The conversation on competitiveness followed yesterday, when the 27 EU leaders gathered in the Belgian countryside for an informal summit.

According to Charlier, it is important to focus on the EU’s industry, but the drive to scael down regulation and cut red tape should not come at the expense of workers’ rights and other European values, Charlier said.

Küchler also underlined that the term “deregulation” should not be misused, as decisions taken in Brussels follow long discussions and are adopted by the 27 EU member states rather than by a separate entity.