The EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement

After more than 25 years of negotiations, the European Union (EU) and four Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – signed on 17 January 2026 the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and the Interim Trade Agreement. The agreements aim to foster economic diversification and deepen political and strategic cooperation between the two regions, establishing one of the world’s largest free-trade areas.
Early trade data indicate that the provisional application of the Interim Trade Agreement since May 2026 has already delivered tangible results. Yet, the agreements remain at the centre of a lively debate on both sides of the Atlantic, with concerns extending to competition, especially of agricultural products, environmental protection, and sustainability.

The workshop ‘The EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement. Perspectives from the EU and Latin America’ will explore the economic, institutional and legal dimensions of the EU-Mercosur partnership exposing opportunities and challenges, six months after the provisional application of the Interim Trade Agreement.
The workshop, organized by the School of International Studies of the University of Trento (Italy), Lobo de Rizzo (San Paolo-Brazil), and the Arbitration and Mediation Centre of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce (San Paolo-Brazil), will bring together scholars and practitioners from both the EU and Latin America, and offer a unique opportunity to gain hands-on insight into the EU-Mercosur agreements and their provisions.

The workshop will take place in person at Rua do Rocio, 220, São Paulo and online.

Sign up here!

PROGRAMME

Introduction – CAM-CCBC, Lobo de Rizzo, SIS
Panel I – General overview and perspectives from the EU and Brazil
The EU-Mercosur Agreement in the new global order: Economic rationale and market opportunities – Stefano
Schiavo, SIS University of Trento (online)
Why has the EU negotiated an agreement with Mercosur? The institutional debate and the formation of the
Union’s external will – Marco Pertile, SIS University of Trento
The EU-Mercosur Agreement from a Brazilian perspective – Daniel Tavela, CAM-CCBC

Panel II – Specific aspects of the EU-Mercosur Agreement
Arbitration and the EU-Mercosur dispute settlement framework: A practitioner’s perspective – Nathalia
Mazzonetto, Müller Mazzonetto Advogados
Dispute settlement under the EU-Mercosur Agreement: Institutional design and practical challenges – Luis
Fernando Guerrero, Lobo de Rizzo
The EU-Mercosur Agreement: The rebalancing mechanism and the EU’s regulatory autonomy – Sondra
Faccio, SIS University of Trento
The EU-Mercosur Agreement’s commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection –
Giulia Cagol, SIS University of Trento

Scientific committee: Sondra Faccio, Luis Fernando Guerrero, Marco Pertile, Giulia Cagol