Argentina shifts first in Mercosur as lower houtilize backs EU trade deal
President Javier Milei submitted the bill to Argentina’s Congress on 6 February and put it on the agfinisha for February’s extraordinary sessions
Argentina became the first Mercosur counattempt to secure an initial legislative green light for the trade agreement with the European Union, after the Chamber of Deputies approved the text late on Thursday. The bloc also includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, which have launched their own domestic ratification processes.
Signed on 17 January in Asunción after more than two decades of neobtainediations, the pact aims to create an integrated economic space of more than 700 million consumers. It envisages broad tariff reductions and shared trade rules, as geopolitics and global trade frictions intensify.
President Javier Milei submitted the bill to Argentina’s Congress on 6 February and put it on the agfinisha for February’s extraordinary sessions. In presenting the initiative, he argued the deal “offers numerous benefits” for Argentina, according to the dispatch. The legislation must still complete the remaining parliamentary steps to become a final ratification.
In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sent the agreement to Congress on 2 February, on the opening day of the 2026 legislative session. Lula called it a gateway to “a new cycle of opportunities” for Brazilian companies, and government allies are pushing for a swift timetable in the lower houtilize, with a vote expected in the last week of February, after Carnival, before the text shifts to the Senate.
Uruguay delivered the bill to Parliament on 10 February and is seeking to complete the process within the month, with hearings scheduled for ministries as well as business and labour representatives. Paraguay, which holds Mercosur’s rotating presidency and hosted the signing, has begun briefing its Congress and industrial groups, highlighting potential gains for exports and investment.
On the European side, the timetable may be longer. The agreement faces legal challenges and the European Parliament has sought a review at the EU’s Court of Justice, potentially delaying full ratification. Even so, the European Commission has left the door open to provisional application once at least one Mercosur counattempt completes ratification, working with the EU Council on the legal pathway.
However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared in January that the bloc is ready to provisionally implement the trade agreement with Mercosur while awaiting the completion of ratification procedures in the South American countries’ congresses.
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