South America is waiting for Polish companies: Will we take advantage of the opportunities offered by the EU-Mercosur agreement?
The deadline for filing a complaint against the EU-Mercosur agreement with the Court of Justice was 26 May 2026. Poland was the only member state to exercise this option. Thus there are currently two separate cases before the Court of Justice: one initiated by the European Parliament seeking an opinion (Avis 1/26) and the complaint filed by Poland.
Importantly from a business perspective, neither of these proceedings suspends the application of the Interim Trade Agreement (ITA), which entered into force on 1 May 2026. Regardless of the outcome of these proceedings before the Court of Justice, the legal framework for commercial cooperation between the EU and the Mercosur countries of South America is already in force.
Poland’s complaint
Poland filed a complaint seeking to invalidate the decisions of the Council of the EU and the Commission concerning signing and interim application of the ITA.
The main allegation concerns competence: Poland questions the division of the agreement made by EU institutions into a political part (the partnership agreement) and a trade part (the ITA), arguing that the subject matter covered by the ITA does not fall within the EU’s exclusive competence, and requires the consent of the member states within the Council. This coincides with the allegation raised by the European Parliament in case no. Avis 1/26.
Poland’s complaint includes an application for interim relief in the form of freezing the interim application of the ITA until a judgment is rendered by the Court of Justice. A decision on interim relief may be handed down much faster than a ruling on the merits; according to preliminary estimates, the main proceeding could last about 20 months.
Missed opportunity—Polish companies on Mercosur markets
Meanwhile, the agreement is in place, and is significantly impacting the status of economic exchange between the two blocs. But Poland has only a modest presence on South American markets. The interest on the part of Polish businesses in the opportunities arising out of the EU-Mercosur deal has so far not been great, although the signals from that region indicate a need for skills possessed by Polish firms.
This was confirmed at the conference “South American Markets” held in Warsaw on 15 May 2026, organised by ICC Poland in conjunction with the bank BNP Paribas. This was the first event in the ICC Poland Speaks Business series, launching the operation of the Global Trade Commission at the Polish national committee of the International Chamber of Commerce. The participants included Polish businesspeople with experience operating in South America, and representatives of the ICC national committees from Argentina, France, Germany, Italy and Paraguay. We had a chance to hear their presentation and converse with them in the corridors.
The main conclusion from the presentations of the invited experts was that the Mercosur countries, particularly Argentina and Brazil, declare that they have unsatisfied needs that offer an opportunity for European businesses, including Polish ones. For example, Argentina plans major investments in the growth of its transportation network, which opens up prospects for Polish manufacturers of buses, trams and rail cars. The panellists also pointed to the needs of the machinery, pharmaceutical, chemical, IT, and green tech sectors.
Particular attention was devoted to the nitrogen-based fertiliser sector, in which Poland is a European stronghold. The Mercosur countries, as agricultural exporters (which is also one of the most frequently raised arguments in the debate over the risks associated with the EU-Mercosur agreement), declare that they have a structural need for large volumes of fertilisers. Meanwhile, the global supply of nitrogen-based fertilisers has become less stable due to the lasting decline in Russia’s production and export capacity, which further strengthens the competitive position of Polish producers on Latin American markets.
Also of particular interest was the aspect of public contractors in the infrastructure sector. Polish firms already operating on the South American market enjoy a good reputation primarily as subcontractors for international general contractors carrying out large projects. In practice, this means that Polish businesses may enter the Mercosur market without bearing the full risk of independent expansion, by participating in consortia with Western companies that are already present in the region. The opening of the public procurement market under the EU-Mercosur agreement could greatly strengthen this mechanism.
An added strong suit of this cooperation, which may be surprising to some, is cultural proximity. Studies presented at the conference show that Poland displays great cultural similarities to Mercosur countries, closer even than with some EU countries. The experience of businesses present in Latin America shows that Polish contractors are highly regarded in that region.
Legal issues could pose a challenge for both sides. The best practice is to select legal advisers with strong contacts in the host state, and to conduct projects through a cross-border legal team.
Risks and the EU’s first reaction
Obviously, expansion onto South American markets entails regulatory, currency and political risks. Fears on the part of the European agri-food sector of an influx of cheap foods not meeting EU standards were one of the main arguments of the opponents of the trade deal. The European Commission responded to these concerns demonstratively, by updating the list of third countries authorised to export animals and products of animal origin to the EU market, removing Brazil from the list. Starting 3 September 2026, Brazil will lose the right to export to the EU market such items as beef, poultry, eggs, honey, and aquaculture products.
This decision is grounded in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Brazil failed to offer sufficient guarantees that antimicrobials banned in the EU are not being used there to stimulate animal growth. Significantly, Brazil is the only Mercosur country excluded from the list. Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay have demonstrated compliance with EU sanitary norms and retain the full right to export to the EU market.
The blockade of Brazilian exports is also a strong political argument against critics of the agreement. The European Commission also stresses that it is conducting ongoing cooperation with the Brazilian authorities, and if Brazil adjusts its system of veterinary oversight, permission to export to the EU will be reinstated. This situation shows that the EU’s non-tariff barriers in the form of sanitary standards constitute a realistic safety valve protecting European agriculture. The trade deal does not mean dropping these standards.
Polish businesses interested in expansion onto the markets of South America don’t have to go it alone. In the Team Poland initiative, the Polish Development Fund (PFR) brings together institutions offering comprehensive support in areas of capital, insurance, and consulting. At the ICC Poland conference, these instruments were presented in detail by officials from the PFR foreign expansion fund, the export credit insurance company KUKE, and BNP Paribas. The speakers all stressed that so far the scale of engagement of Polish businesses on Latin American markets has been small, and thus these institutions have not had many occasions to spread their support in this direction, but they declared their full operational readiness to back such projects.
Not just Mercosur—new deal with Mexico
The EU is also tightening trade relations with other countries in Latin America. On 22 May 2026, during the May session of the Council of the EU, a modernised global agreement (MGA) and an interim trade agreement were signed between the EU and Mexico. As in the case of Mercosur, a split treaty architecture was applied: the ITA will enter into interim application without the need for ratification by the national parliaments, while the MGA, covering such issues as protection of investments, will require the full ratification procedure. Mexico is the sixth-largest economy in the Americas and a natural logistics hub linking all of the USMCA markets (the US, Canada and Mexico) with Latin America. We will report in more detail on this agreement separately.
Summary
The EU-Mercosur agreement, the agreement with Mexico, and the ongoing negotiations with India and Australia show that the European Union is consistently pursuing the approach of open strategic autonomy, diversifying trade partnerships, and reducing dependence on specific markets. Latin America holds a special place in this strategy: it is a large, rapidly growing market, culturally open to cooperation with European businesses, including Polish ones. The existing examples confirm that Polish business is prized and sought-after in the region.
From a legal perspective, the next few months promise to be fascinating. The proceedings before the Court of Justice may lead to precedent-setting rulings on the limits of the EU’s treaty competence in the area of trade policy. But regardless of the result of these cases, the European Commission will consistently push forward the interim application of the ITA, and the legal framework for trade cooperation with Mercosur is already in force. Risks (regulatory, sanitary, political) do exist, but, as the example of Brazil shows, the EU has effective instruments at its disposal to mitigate these risks. For Polish businesses considering expansion onto Latin American markets, the window of opportunity is wide open.
Filip Olszówka, Dispute Resolution & Arbitration practice, Julia Rutka, Infrastructure, Transport, Public Procurement & PPP practice, Wardyński & Partners
