European Commission Directorate-General for Trade

Mercosur

Mercosur was established in 1991 and encompasses Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela was accepted as a member in 2006 and is currently in the process of integrating into Mercosur.

In 2009, EU-Mercosur trade represents nearly as much as EU trade with the rest of Latin America taken together. In 2008, the EU was Mercosur's first largest trading partner, representing 20.7% of total Mercosur trade, and it is the largest investor in Mercosur. Mercosur ranks 8th among EU trading partners, accounting for 2.7% of total EU trade in 2009.

The EU is Mercosur's first market for its agricultural exports, accounting for 19.8% of total EU agricultural imports in 2009. EU exports to Mercosur focus largely on industrial products including machinery, transport equipment and chemicals.

The EU-Mercosur FTA

Negotiations for an inter-regional Association Agreement between the EU and the Mercosur were launched in 1999 but were, however, suspended in October 2004.

During 2009 and 2010, the EU and Mercosur conducted a process of informal contacts to take stock of the situations and assess if the conditions for a successful re-launch of the negotiations were now present. Taking into account the results of this informal dialogue, with the last two meeting taking place in Buenos Aires on 18-19 March and in Brussels on 26-27 April 2010, the Commission decided in May 2010 that it should be possible to relaunch the negotiations.

The negotiations are based on a region-to region approach and aims at an ambitious and balanced result, going beyond the respective WTO obligations of both sides. The agreement will have an extensive coverage, although product and sectoral sensitivities on both sides will be taken into account. It will cover not just goods, but issues such as services, investment, government procurement or trade and sustainable development.

The EU-Mercosur FTA will also aim at ensuring adequate protection of intellectual property rights and geographical indications, effective competition policies and will include a special chapter on sanitary and phytosanitary standards. It will also establish an effective and binding dispute settlement mechanism to help resolve trade differences over in the EU-Mercosur relationship.

The 2010 Madrid Summit

The 2010 EU-LAC Summit took place on 18 May 2010 in Madrid with the theme 'Towards a new stage in the bi-regional partnership: Innovation and Technology for sustainable development and social inclusion'.

The Summit, which brought together Heads of State and Governments from Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe, as well as important non-state actors, resulted in a decision to re-launch negotiations for an EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement, political approval to the conclusion of a comprehensive trade agreement between the EU and the Andean Countries (Peru and Colombia) as well as the endorsement of the conclusion of the negotiations between the EU and Central America.

More on the 2010 Madrid Summit

Sustainable Impact Assessment (SIA)

A Sustainable Impact Assessment (SIA) of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement has been conducted and the final reports were published in March 2009.

• Consult the reports