A crucial moment for the EU-Mercosur trade deal

Key European Union and Brazilian leaders have recently begun to push for a conclusion of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement by the end of this year.

Negotiations around the deal began in the late 1990s, but the two sides only reached an agreement in principle in 2019. According to the European Commission’s website, the texts still “may undergo further modifications including as a result of the process of legal revision.” No president or prime minister on either side has signed the agreement yet.

During a June 12 visit to Brasília, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva both intend to conclude the agreement by the end of this year. “We both believe that it is now the time to conclude the EU-Mercosur agreement. We have the ambition, the two of us, to get it done as soon as possible, [at] the latest by the end of the year,” she told a press conference.

The draft’s conclusion came at a different political moment, especially in South America. Brazil was ruled by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, and Argentina’s president was center-right businessman Mauricio Macri. Both men lost their respective re-election bid to left-wing rivals. 

Lula has since raised objections to some provisions in the deal, notably the chapter on government procurement. Argentina’s Alberto Fernández, who met with Ms. von der Leyen on June 13, said this week that “it’s up to us and to Europe to remove the obstacles and if the political will exists, it’s not so difficult. On our side, we ask for a balanced agreement.”

The temperature for the agreement will be publicly tested at two upcoming meetings. Lula is to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron next week in Paris, during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact. Two weeks later,...