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On 17 January 2026, the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement (EMPA) was signed in Asunción, Paraguay, for the Mercosur side by the four founding Mercosur members – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay – and for the EU side by European Council and Commission Presidents António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen. Following the formal signature, the four Mercosur countries have ratified EMPA in record time. Most Mercosur stakeholders have overwhelmingly welcomed EMPA, although long-standing fears and more ...

The inclusion of a rebalancing mechanism into EU preferential trade agreements is a comparatively recent development. So far, only two such mechanisms have been introduced. A first rebalancing mechanism was incorporated into the EU–United Kingdom (UK) Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). It is designed to allow either party to take unilateral rebalancing measures (e.g. suspension of preferential tariffs) if, after the UK's withdrawal from the EU, 'significant divergences' from the principle of ...

This study explores the competitiveness gap faced by the EU’s seafood sector. Five case studies illustrate how high input costs and relatively low productivity mean that imports, now supply over 80% of the EU’s consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products (FAPs). The policy recommendations provided aim to help secure a more self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient seafood system. This document was prepared at the request of the Committee on Fisheries (PECH).

This at-a-glance provides an overview of the EU carding system established by Regulation 1005/2008 on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The carding system is a key EU tool in combating illegal fishing globally, which has shaped the EU’s fisheries relations with countries considered uncooperative in the fight against IUU fishing.

The EU’s relations with Latin America and the Caribbean are multifaceted and conducted at different levels. Guided by the New Agenda for Relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, the EU seeks to strengthen and modernise the bi-regional strategic partnership. The EU interacts with the entire region through summits with the heads of state and government and through parliamentary diplomacy, while agreements and political dialogue bind the EU and the Caribbean, Central America, the ...

Parliament is set to vote during its February 2026 plenary session on a provisional text for a regulation implementing the bilateral safeguard clause for agricultural products incorporated into the trade pillar of the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement, as agreed in interinstitutional negotiations on 17 December 2025.

This study explores the competitiveness gap faced by the EU’s seafood sector. Five case studies illustrate how high input costs and relatively low productivity mean that imports, now supply over 80% of the EU’s consumption of fisheries and aquaculture products (FAPs). The policy recommendations provided aim to help secure a more self-sufficient, sustainable, and resilient seafood system. This document was prepared at the request of the Committee on Fisheries (PECH).

Cross-border parental child abductions in the EU are governed by The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and (except for Denmark) the Brussels II-ter Regulation. Countries outside of the EU may or may not be Contracting States to ‘the Convention’, but will not be bound by Brussels II-ter. Research has found that the often negative, long-lasting impact of abduction may continue throughout the lifecycle of those who have been abducted. It may also affect future ...

Following a strategy of maximum pressure since January 2025, the United States intervened militarily in January 2026, captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and arraigned them in New York on drug trafficking charges. After their capture, Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as President. Venezuela's constitution provides for elections when the president is incapacitated, although the deadline by which elections are required to take place is not clear. Trump's message ...

The 13 overseas countries and territories (OCTs) of the European Union (EU) are islands associated with the EU and constitutionally linked to Denmark (Greenland), France (6 OCTs), and the Netherlands (6 OCTs), on which they depend to varying degrees as non-sovereign countries or territories. OCTs have been associated with the EU since the entry into force in 1958 of the Treaty of Rome. This association is enshrined in Articles 198 to 204 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). Its key ...