Abstract
The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – have spent 23 years negotiating a free trade agreement that would create the world’s biggest economic market. In June 2019, the two blocs signed an agreement in principle, however, it remains unratified. The delay in ratification has not gone unnoticed and scepticism around the success of the negotiations seems to dominate the current mood.
In September this year, Santiago Peña, the President of Paraguay, sent the EU an ultimatum to finalise the agreement before 6 December and, consequently, before the current Spanish presidency of the EU ends and before the end of Brazil’s presidency of Mercosur.