Although their talks for a free trade agreement are nearing the finishing line, the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) are faced with immense pressure from their member countries before a meeting of their chief negotiators, in Brussels on Friday 2 February – which is due to launch a new session of technical level talks with the objective of reaching a compromise by the end of the month, before the start of the campaign for the general elections in Brazil in March.