On 1 July 2026, the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group tabled ten amendments to the European Parliament's interim report on the EU-Mexico Strategic Partnership Agreement, proposing to delete references to climate action, the Green Deal, shared values, and multilateralism, and to refocus the text on national sovereignty, security, and agricultural protectionism. The amendments, authored by MEPs Alexander Sell, Marcin Sypniewski, Milan Uhrík, and Sarah Knafo, would replace the agreement's foundation in shared democratic values with language asserting Mexico's exclusive responsibility for its internal affairs and rejecting any EU role in its rule of law or judicial appointments. The broad cooperation areas covering environmental protection, biodiversity, climate action, energy transition, and education would be narrowed to security, justice, and migration management, with a new emphasis on protecting cultural heritage. The amendments also introduce two new paragraphs calling for safeguard clauses to protect European farmers from Mexican agricultural imports produced under lower standards, and for systematic border controls to verify compliance with EU food safety and animal welfare rules.
The ESN's proposals would delete the original text's references to the geopolitical significance of the partnership, the rules-based multilateral order, and Mexico's role in promoting effective multilateralism, reducing the agreement to a bilateral relationship focused on pragmatic cooperation based on mutual economic and strategic interests. As proposed amendments, these changes have not been adopted by the Parliament and will be examined and voted on in committee and plenary. The ESN group's intervention represents a fundamental challenge to the mainstream approach of embedding trade agreements in broader values-based and environmental commitments, and if adopted would significantly shift the balance of the agreement toward a transactional, sovereignty-centric model.
The amendments would impact EU-Mexico relations by removing shared normative foundations, potentially weakening cooperation on climate and human rights, while introducing new protections for EU agricultural producers against competition from Mexican imports. The European Parliament is expected to debate the report and amendments in the coming months, with the final text requiring Council approval.