It wasn’t on the agenda, but everyone talked about it. The imminent final agreement between Mercosur, the bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and the European Union has overshadowed the CELAC-EU summit held this Sunday in Santa Marta, Colombia. Both parties used it as an example of resistance to the new world order promoted by Donald Trump from the White House. Unilateralism and its most obvious manifestation, the tariff war launched by the Republicans, are the other side of the trade cooperation that a free trade agreement between the two blocs entails.
The EU and Mercosur signed a political agreement in December 2024 after more than 25 years of negotiations. The European Commission adopted it in 2025. It is not in force, awaiting unanimous ratification by the 27 EU member states. Its main promoters on the European side are Spain and now also Germany, which find in the treaty an alternative path to Trump and his war with China for the control of international trade. However, resistance from France, which sees the pact as a threat to its farmers, has delayed the ratification process.
Last Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron gave signs of détente in Brazil during his participation in the COP30 climate summit. He said, without further details, that he was “quite positive” about the possibility of approving the agreement, although he made it clear that his country would remain “vigilant”. The change has generated expectations on both sides of the Atlantic and they made it known this Sunday in Santa Marta. The most energetic was the Brazilian Lula da Silva, one of the main promoters of the agreement together with the Spaniard Pedro Sánchez.
“The Mercosur-EU agreement shows that it is possible to strengthen multilateralism also on the trade front. At the next Mercosur summit in December, I hope that the two blocs can finally say yes to rules-based international trade, as an answer to unilateralism. With this instrument we will integrate two of the largest free trade areas in the world, to form a market of 718 million people and a GDP of 22 trillion dollars,” Lula said in his speech to the leaders present. in Santa Marta.
The Vice President of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, expressed herself along the same lines. He said the EU’s goal is to “update the (current) agreement with Mexico by 2026 and sign the agreement with Mercosur in December.” “Latin America will have the open doors of the European Union. Europe chooses cooperation and not isolation,” he warned.
Lula’s presence at the Celac-EU summit, confirmed at the time, had a lot to do with his intention to strengthen his position as an alternative to Trump. Sources at Palazzo Planalto claim that a mistake would have been rude when one is “almost in agreement with the EU”. “It was a gesture towards the EU, with which we want to sign,” they added. The intention is that the issue will be closed on December 20, when Mercosur will hold its biannual summit of presidents in Rio de Janeiro. Paraguay will then assume the presidency pro tempore of the bloc until June, but Uruguay, its replacement, will certainly be the country that will give the first impetus to the agreement.
“We will prepare for when we are given the presidency of Mercosur starting in the second half of 2026 and we will be able to work specifically on some of the ideas that both groups agree on,” says Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin.
