Brazilian government negotiators hope that the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union will be signed by the end of next year.
This stage will depend on the prior completion of two phases: legal review and translation of texts. Once signed, the treaty will not yet be in force, as this depends on the internalization and ratification of the trade agreement.
The pace of legal review and translation of texts, a process that will take months, will also depend in part on the new presidency of Mercosur, assumed by Javier Milei’s Argentina. The neighboring country assumed leadership pro tempore on Friday (6), during the heads of state summit in Montevideo (Uruguay).
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Although he supported the trade treaty, in favor of greater commercial flexibility, Milei is a critic of the South American bloc, and reinforced his view today by classifying Mercosur as a “prison”.
In turn, in the second half of 2025, it will be Brazil’s turn to assume the presidency pro tempore, which fuels expectations that, by the end of this cycle, the agreement can be signed.
According to the Brazilian government, the legal review process of the agreement, aimed at ensuring consistency, harmony and linguistic and structural correction of the texts, is advanced. Once this phase is completed, the treaty will be translated from the English language into the 23 official languages of the European Union and the 2 official languages of Mercosur – Spanish and Portuguese.
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Then comes the signing stage. The parties will then forward the agreement to their respective internal approval processes. In Brazil, this process involves the Executive and Legislative Powers, through approval by the National Congress.
Upon ratification, the parties notify the completion of the respective internal procedures and confirm their commitment to comply with the agreement.
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The return of the summit between Brazil and the European Union, announced by the Brazilian government, will, among other goals, create the formulation of a common strategy to ensure the final approval and ratification of the commercial treaty. The summit has not met since February 2014, when the meeting was held in Brussels, Belgium.
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There is still no set date or location for the meeting, but it has already been agreed between the parties that it will take place in Brazil and, probably, at some point in the first half of next year.
