Commission insists on Mercosur: “Geopolitical, more than economic importance; we will explain it to the states”

Brussels – Ratify the trade agreement with Mercosur, now more than ever. The European Commission wants to convince member states by all means not to let an arrangement die, as its non-implementation would be a resounding own goal. “We believe that it is of great importance, not so much economic as geopolitical,” said Olof Gill, spokesman for the EU executive responsible for trade issues. “So we will certainly invest time and energy in explaining to member states what is happening in the world and the opportunity it (the agreement signed at the end of 2024) offers.

What is happening, and what the EU Commission spokesman is referring to, is an unpredictable, unstable world, of which US President Donald Trump’s protectionist policy is just the latest chapter. “Trade diversification is not a new priority of the Commission,” Gill continues. Still, choices and behaviors from across the Atlantic only add further entirely new and all-strategic importance to the moves of an EU executive that, as a shield against Trump, sought an agreement with the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay plus Venezuela suspended).

The EU-Mercosur free trade agreement “represents so many opportunities for both sides in an uncertain geopolitical reality,” insists the European Commission spokesman, where trust in the traditional US ally is no longer present. When asked about the lack of counter-tariffs on Russia, a theoretically hostile country, while so-called European allies have been slapped with tariffs, Gill chooses the “no comment” route, which chief spokeswoman Paula Pinho quickly breaks, saying,  “We have trouble understanding the logic of Trump’s choices.”