Brussels, 18 December 2025 – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will not travel to Brazil this weekend to sign a deeply unpopular trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur bloc of four South American countries, according to a report in POLITICO Europe.
Greenpeace EU campaigner Lis Cunha said: “After more than 25 years of trying to force through an unsustainable and unfair trade agreement with Mercosur, it’s time for EU leaders to face the inescapable truth: it’s never going to happen. At this point, the Commission has failed so many times that it’s starting to feel like they must take their instructions from Samuel Beckett: try again, fail again, fail better. But not even a postmodern playwright could make sense of the fundamental contradictions of this environmentally-damaging deal. EU and Mercosur leaders must reject this toxic agreement and work instead to develop a truly sustainable and balanced relationship.”
Waiting for EU-Mercosur
Over 25 years of secret negotiations, a wide range of global civil society groups have repeatedly voiced steadfast opposition and attempted to inform the public about the catastrophic impacts of a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur, a bloc of countries that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The agreement’s adoption would be particularly harmful and controversial for the Amazon rainforest, at a time in which the EU’s anti-deforestation law has been repeatedly delayed and weakened.
Revelations have included that the deal will: jeopardise the EU Deforestation Regulation, breach EU climate laws, boost trade in plastics and undermine efforts to agree a Global Plastics Treaty, facilitate the entry of a toxic cocktail of banned pesticides into the EU, propel destructive agribusiness and destroy precious ecosystems in South America.
Trade unions, consumers, human rights groups and environmental organisations, economists, indigenous peoples, local municipalities and other civil society organisations have criticised the agreement, not to mention the more than 2 million EU citizens who have signed petitions opposing it.
Stop EU-Mercosur, an alliance of more than 450 organisations in Europe and South America, has compiled a comprehensive and multilingual list of resources on the many problems with this toxic deal.
Next steps
The unpopular deal continues to face determined opposition in Europe from countries such as France, Poland, Ireland, Hungary and Austria, as well as from a large number of MEPs. No date has yet been set for the EU’s signature of the agreement or for MEPs to ratify it.
Contacts:
Greenpeace EU trade campaigner Lis Cunha: +32 471 013 708, [email protected]
Greenpeace EU press desk: +32 (0)2 274 1911, [email protected]
This press comment is also available on: www.greenpeace.eu
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Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace. We do not accept donations from governments, the EU, businesses or political parties. Greenpeace has over three million supporters, and 26 independent national and regional organisations with offices in more than 55 countries.
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