Overview
- Signed in Asunción on January 17, the pact links the EU with Mercosur’s five members and sets common rules on goods, public procurement, intellectual property and sustainability.
- Tariffs on EU exports to Mercosur will be phased out over 4 to 18 years, while EU tariffs on Mercosur goods fall over 4 to 12 years, taking most trade to zero duties by count and value.
- For Brazil, 91% of tariff lines and 85% of import value go to zero, while the EU commits to duty‑free treatment on 95% of goods and 92% of value, complemented by zero‑tariff quotas.
- Quota provisions cover up to 3% of goods or 5% of value on the EU side and 9% of goods or 8% of value in Brazil, with sensitive areas like autos given longer phase‑outs and typical flows including EU cars, machinery and alcoholic beverages versus Mercosur beef, sugar, rice, honey and soy.
- The agreement makes environmental obligations binding, including Paris Agreement compliance and a ban on goods tied to illegal deforestation, and now heads to ratification by the European Parliament and Mercosur legislatures after a qualified‑majority EU approval that faced opposition from France, Poland, Austria, Ireland and Hungary and a Belgian abstention.