EU-Brazil Relations at the World Trade Organization: Dispute Settlement as Leverage

This paper addresses how Brazil’s use of the WTO dispute settlement vis-à-vis the EU has an impact on
trade relations between both parties. After describing their economic relationship, it is demonstrated that Brazil and
the EU are not only successful and avid users of the dispute settlement system, but are also striving to strengthen its
judicialization. Together with indirect economic advantages and agenda-setting capacities, the judicialization of the
WTO dispute settlement system can be considered factors by which Brazil relatively strengthened its position vis-àvis
the EU. However, the final section of the paper demonstrates how tensions within Mercosur, the rise of megaregionalism
and the prioritization of the EU’s negotiation capacity towards the U.S. and Japan, undermine Brazil’s
position in trade relations with the EU.