Beyond the Finish Line: Sustainability Hurdles in the EU–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement

Rossella Palmieri (), Charlotte Amice, Mario Amato and Fabio Verneau
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Rossella Palmieri: Department of Political Science, University of Naples Federico II, Via Rodinò 22/A, 80138 Naples, Italy
Charlotte Amice: Department of Political Science, University of Naples Federico II, Via Rodinò 22/A, 80138 Naples, Italy
Mario Amato: Department of Political Science, University of Naples Federico II, Via Rodinò 22/A, 80138 Naples, Italy
Fabio Verneau: Department of Political Science, University of Naples Federico II, Via Rodinò 22/A, 80138 Naples, Italy

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: The European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) free trade agreement (FTA) aims to increase regional trade and major integration between the regions; after decades of negotiations, in 2019, finalization of the agreement was reached. However, there are several blockages from both parties in the ratification process: whilst few EU members the criticize environmental and sustainability issues within the agreement, the Mercosur partners oppose the imposition of sustainability standards onto the region without adequate financial support. On this topic, the literature is still too poor to build a systematic literature review; thus, the present analysis follows a quasi-historical approach considering the major steps of the EU–Mercosur FTA looking both at the scientific and gray literature. The study underlines how environmental and sustainability issues are at the core of the European policies; thus, themes such as deforestation and pesticides could be a dealbreaker in the ratification of the agreement. For the EU, the FTA with Mercosur could mark a new step in the race towards it being a new “global standard” for sustainability and production.

Keywords: Mercosur; European Union; free trade agreement; environment; sustainability; regional trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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