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EU-Mercosur: Text of the agreement

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  • Mercosur
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Disclaimer: On 29 June 2019, the European Union and Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) concluded negotiations for trade components of the EU-Mercosur agreement. This was complemented in July 2020 by the conclusion of negotiations of the political and cooperation components of the deal. On 6 December 2024, the EU and Mercosur reached a political agreement on an improved EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement.

On 3 September 2025, the European Commission adopted proposals for Council decisions on the signature and conclusion of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and of the interim Trade Agreement (iTA). 

The texts are presented as two parallel legal instruments:

  • the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA), including a Political and Cooperation pillar and a Trade pillar, and;
  • an interim Trade Agreement (iTA), covering only trade matters. 

On 9 January 2026, the Council adopted two decisions authorising the signature of the EMPA and the iTA. Pursuant to that decision, the ITA shall be provisionally applied once one or more signatory Mercosur states have finalised their respective internal ratification procedures, notified the EU of their completion, and confirmed their agreement to its provisional application. 

On 17 January 2026, the European Union and Mercosur signed the Partnership Agreement (EMPA) and the Interim Trade Agreement (iTA).

The iTA will enter fully into force after the European Parliament has given its consent. The EMPA will have to be ratified by all EU Member States before entering into force. Ultimately, the iTA will be repealed and replaced by the EMPA, once the latter enters into force. 

On 27 February 2026, the Commission announced that it will provisionally apply the iTA with Mercosur. Under the terms of the agreement, provisional application begins on the first day of the second month following the date on which the European Union and the respective Mercosur signatory state notified each other of the completion of their internal procedures and confirmed their agreement to provisionally apply the agreement. As all four Mercosur countries completed their domestic procedures in March, the iTA will be provisionally applied as of 1 May.

In view of the Commission's transparency policy and of growing public interest in trade negotiations, the Commission previously published the texts related to the trade-related components of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement, encompassing the texts agreed in June 2019, as well as improved and additional elements resulting from negotiations between March 2023 and December 2024.   

To add transparency to the 2024 negotiated outcome as compared to 2019, the Commission also published an explanatory document of those elements, complementing the 2019 summary of the agreement in principle.

The Commission has now published the text of the EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement (iTA), as transmitted to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. 

The text resulting from negotiations has undergone a thorough legal revision and is now final following its signature. The agreement will become binding under international law upon the start of its provisional application on 1 May 2026, following completion of all required internal procedures by the parties.

Only the text published in the Official Journal is legally binding. 

The new EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (as transmitted to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament on 3 September 2025)

Proposal for a Council decision on the signing and on the conclusion of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA)

Proposal for a Council decision on the signing and on the conclusion of the interim Trade Agreement (iTA)

EU-Mercosur interim Trade Agreement*

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Annexes:

*As submitted to the Council of the European Union and to the European Parliament on 3 September 2025.