Politicisation and Agricultural (Post-)Exceptionalism in EU–Mercosur Association Agreement Negotiations

Abstract

This article examines how the politicisation of EU trade policy – defined by heightened public salience, stakeholder polarisation and contestation – reshapes agricultural lobbying strategies, with a particular focus on the EU–Mercosur Association Agreement. It argues that sustainability has become a central terrain of discursive contestation, strategically mobilised by agricultural interest groups to reinforce protectionist claims under new political and regulatory conditions. Drawing on discursive postfunctionalism, the analysis traces how EU institutions, national governments and sectoral lobbies frame sustainability as a response to politicisation. Empirically, the article draws on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews to show how agricultural actors align with broader narratives around climate change, deforestation and food safety to legitimise opposition to liberalisation. Theoretically, it contributes to the literature on EU trade policy by refining the concepts of politicisation and post-exceptionalism and foregrounding the strategic use of sustainability rhetoric in shaping trade outcomes.