EU ministers have given final approval to an interim trade agreement with Mexico, completing the bloc’s internal process for the deal.
The Council of the EU adopted a decision to formally conclude the Interim Agreement on Trade between the EU and Mexico after the agreement was signed at an EU-Mexico summit on 22 May 2026 and backed by the European Parliament on 8 July 2026.
The agreement updates the trade pillar of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement, which has governed relations since 2000.
Under the interim deal, most remaining customs duties are set to be removed and access widened for services, investment and public procurement.
It also includes provisions on digital trade, intellectual property, customs cooperation, competition and critical raw materials.
The deal is expected to benefit more than 45,000 EU companies exporting to Mexico, most of them small and medium-sized enterprises.
When the deal takes effect
The interim agreement does not need ratification by individual EU member states because it falls under the EU’s exclusive competence, according to the Council.
It is due to enter into force on the first day of the second month after the EU and Mexico notify each other that their respective internal procedures have been completed.
Mexico is expected to finish its internal ratification process after the summer.
Once the notifications are exchanged, a two-month period will be built in for businesses and other operators to prepare for the agreement’s application.
The interim agreement will operate as a stand-alone deal until a wider modernised EU-Mexico Global Agreement enters into force, at which point the interim arrangement will stop applying.
Mexico is the EU’s second-largest trading partner in Latin America and the EU is Mexico’s third-largest trading partner.
Trade between the two sides totalled nearly €87 billion in goods in 2025 and more than €29 billion in services in 2024, it said.
