Economic Relations between the European Union and Mexico

The article provides an insight into EU-Mexico trade and investment ties, and major features of economic relations. The main objective of the article is to explore the dynamics of forces and interests between the EU and this Latin-American country. The article shows that the growing attractiveness of the Mexican market in terms of industrial production was one of decisive factors to conclude “EU-Mexico Global Agreement” at the beginning of the 21_st century. The creation of a free trade zone has given an incentive to active mutual trade and investment. As a result, Mexico became more integrated into intercompany trade and industrial supply chains with EU partners. By one side, Mexico’s rapprochement with the EU countries can be considered as a way to support its international ambitions towards strategic partnerships in key areas such as climate change, energy, technology, innovation and digitalization. Such strategy corresponds to a dynamically changing world in which Mexico is gaining weight as a new center of power. On the other side, the modernization of the Global Agreement is mainly due to desire to strengthen bilateral relations in response to the aggressive US tariff policy, but its cruel character does not weaken the dynamism of European-Mexican relations, or rather changes the “rules of the game”. The updated Global Agreement is designed to provide certainty for investors of both countries, to attract European capital, to diversify Mexican exports and mitigate disruptions in global supply chains. The article highlights the interaction of global and regional centers of power in the context of protectionism and rebalancing of world economic relations.