Mexico's Parliament and other political institutions

Briefing 21-01-2021

The United Mexican States is the third-largest country in Latin America, with the second-largest economy and population. It is a federal republic, composed of 31 states plus Mexico City. The country is an electoral democracy with universal suffrage, a presidential system of government and separation of powers. The executive power is vested in the President of the Republic, the legislative power in the bicameral Congress of the Union and the judicial power in the Federal Courts of Justice. States are headed by a governor and have unicameral legislatures. Mexico has always had a multilateral vocation, maintaining a wide presence in global and regional organisations. It has close historical and cultural ties with the EU, with which it shares fundamental values. Mexico was the first Latin American country to sign an economic partnership, political coordination and cooperation agreement (a 'Global Agreement', which has just been modernised) with the EU, and is – alongside Brazil – a strategic partner to the EU in the region. Relations between the European Parliament and the Mexican Congress of the Union are mainly maintained through the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), made up of delegations from both sides. The European Parliament and the Congress of the Union also work together at the bi-regional level in the framework of the Euro-Latin America Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat).