Unpacking the impact of mega-regional agreements: the EU–Mercosur case

Abstract

Mega-regional trade agreements progressively became a mechanism for the European Union (EU) to include a wide range of commitments in interregional negotiations. There is a well-developed scholarly debate on the EU’s normative power, but we have not seen a similar weight of research on how third countries react to European influence. We suggest that the focus on the macro analysis of state-level interests hides that domestic groups are impacted by EU rules and mobilise to respond to what is perceived as an imposition of European norms. This article explores the EU–Mercosur Agreement and, considering the pivotal role of Brazil in potentially obstructing it, we conducted documentary research to analyse how Brazilian stakeholders have reacted to the EU norm-spreading. We mapped influential individuals and organisations engaged in disclosing their positions and influencing the negotiation outcome. The results demonstrate that while supporters are those directly benefiting from trade liberalisation, opposition comes mainly from sectors impacted by the beyond-trade norms.