Presented as “the largest free trade agreement in the world,” the Association Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur was signed on June 28, 2019 after two decades of negotiations and gridlocks. Under the text agreed between the parties, and now pending on ratification by the European parliament, the 26 EU member states and the 4 Mercosur countries, the European Union compromised to eliminate tariffs for 91% of Mercosur products, directly favoring exports of agricommodities
such as beef, soybeans and sugarcane, the main items on
the bloc‘s export agenda.

1. Trade liberalization, however, has raised concerns among
South American and European civil societies that the
pressure for demand could further stimulate deforestation and the invasion of traditional territories not only in
the Amazon rainforest, but also in other threatened biomes in the region, such as the Cerrado savanna, the Pantanal wetlands, the Atlantic Forest, and the Gran Chaco.