Power in practice: Negotiating the EU – Mercosur Association Agreement

Nearly two decades into EU–Mercosur Association Agreement negotiations, it appears that this interregional agreement has been finalized towards its agreement. While weathering the storms of societal contestation and populist-right wing governmental disruptions, the negotiations picked up full-speed as of 2023 and have now been declared finalized by both the European Commission and Mercosur governments. Despite awaiting final clearance and ratification, it seems remarkable that the heavily contested agreement has made it so far. How then, are we able to explain why the agreement has been finalized during the time period of 2023 and 2025? From the standpoint of EU trade negotiations literature, one would seek answers in European Commission negotiation practices. However, in this paper, we try to explain the outcome in a different way – beyond assumptions of political economy scholarship. Rather than focusing on the actorness of the Commission and its impact on the final outcome of the negotiations, we focus on the relational dimension of EU-Brazil diplomacy and its practice as a key determinant of the negotiation outcome. Relying on qualitative data analysis, such as on numerous elite interviews in the EU, Mercosur countries and EU Member States, this paper seeks to shed light on the evolving practice of trade diplomacy within the EU’s external action and how, and the underlying importance of relational diplomatic practices in international relations. Therefore, contributing to the wider debate about what kind of global negotiating actor the EU is (in practice), and to what extent its diplomatic practices are shaped by geopolitical tensions.