Germany says EU-Mercosur trade deal still faces final hurdles

In Buenos Aires on July 1, Germany’s foreign minister Johann Wadephul said the EU-Mercosur trade deal still had unresolved issues before ratification, though the remaining problems could be solved. The stop came after a Mercosur summit in Paraguay and during a South American tour that also focused on trade links and supply chains.

The agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which brings together Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, was negotiated over more than 25 years. It was signed on January 17, 2026, and has applied provisionally since May 1, 2026. The deal would create a trading zone of more than 700 million people, and trade between the two blocs was worth more than 111 billion euros in 2024.

In Europe, resistance has centered on agriculture, climate and the legal path to ratification. Lawmakers in the European Parliament voted in January 2026 to ask the EU Court of Justice for a legal opinion on the pact. Critics have also raised deforestation concerns, arguing that the agreement risks clashing with the bloc’s climate commitments if it expands incentives for land clearing in the region. Other objections have come from member states uneasy with the ratification process itself.

On the Mercosur side, the unresolved issue is how export quotas are divided among the four countries. Wadephul said the decisive steps had already been taken and that the remaining problems were manageable.

Germany wants to be among the first EU member states to formally begin ratification of the political partnership agreement in July 2026. Wadephul’s Argentina visit also produced a memorandum of understanding on mining and critical raw materials.