It took a full quarter of a century, however on December sixth, on the second try, the European Union (EU) and Mercosur, a bloc based mostly on Brazil and Argentina, finalised the textual content on a wide-ranging treaty that enshrines commerce and political co-operation. Its influence on world commerce shall be modest. But its geopolitical symbolism is way greater. With the United States poised to turn into much more protectionist underneath Donald Trump, and with China’s affect in Latin America giant and rising, it marks an effort to strengthen relations between two democratic areas lengthy linked by tradition and historical past. But its ratification by the Europeans is way from sure, because the continent’s influential farmers are afraid of Mercosur’s extremely environment friendly agribusinesses.
