European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hails the EU–Mercosur agreement as the world’s largest free‑trade zone, covering around 700 million people and nearly 20% of global GDP, saying it is a “clear and deliberate choice” of fair trade and long‑term partnership over tariffs and isolation. She stresses that Europe is already Mercosur’s second‑largest trading partner and biggest foreign investor, and argues that scrapping tariffs, opening procurement and creating a rules‑based framework will boost tens of thousands of mostly SME exporters on both sides, creating jobs and prosperity at a time when some major partners are “choosing tariffs,” a veiled contrast to Trump’s new duties on EU countries linked to the Greenland row.