Analysis of the Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur

EU-Mercosur Agreement: An Outdated Trade Agreement That Fuels the Climate Crisis
On 28. In June 2019, after 20 years of negotiations, the European Union and the Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay concluded talks on the EU-Mercosur Trade and Association Agreement. However, although trade agreements negotiated today set the framework for economic exchanges in the coming decades, the EU-Mercosur agreement marginalises the global significance of the climate crisis and provides few answers to address it. While the Paris Agreement is mentioned in the non-sanctioned sustainability chapter, the content and impact of the trade agreements set out in the rest of the text are in blatant contradiction with climate objectives. An entry into force of the agreement would solidify and deepen a non-sustainable and unbalanced relationship between the two economic blocs.
The study by Dr. Luciana Ghiotto and Dr. Javier Echaide provides a comprehensive overview of the agreements and mechanisms contained in the multi-hundred-page agreement. It is also concerned with possible repercussions should the agreement enter into force. It covers all chapters published so far, deals with changes in trade flows in the area of goods and services, regulation, standards and non-tariff barriers. The study is based on a textual analysis of the agreement as well as the evaluation of secondary literature, impact assessments and analyses of the positions of various stakeholders on the agreement.