Brazil as a strategic partner to the Free Trade Agreement between European Union and Mercosul

Abstract

This article aims to analyze trade relations between Brazil and the European Union as a way of making the Free Trade Agreement with Mercosur viable, with an emphasis on Brazil's role as a strategic partner in this process. This position is both geographic and economic, since Brazil is the largest economy in Mercosur. With its diversity of natural resources,agricultural and industrial production, both sides can benefit significantly from an agreement that promotes the elimination of tariff barriers and access to new markets.Through an analysis using the inductive method, the importance of Brazilian internationaltrade as a whole is demonstrated, the historical and cultural relations between Europe andBrazil are verified (since the predecessors of Mercosur, ALALC and ALADI and also evenbefore the own structuring of the European Union), as well as analyzing recent economicdata taken from official Brazilian entities, such as IPEA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairsand the European Commission. The study seeks to demonstrate that the partnership between the two blocs already exists in a solid and robust way, however, this commercialrelationship can be improved, as long as there is greater political alignment between theparties involved. Furthermore, the European Union is interested in strengthening its traderelations with countries outside its traditional partnership axis, seeking to further expand itspresence in emerging economies, such as Brazil. In the end, it appears that theimplementation of this free trade agreement can bring mutual benefits to both regions.