Argentina, the 8^th largest country in the world by surface, is the third economy of Latin America after Brazil and Mexico. With 41 million inhabitants, Argentina has a long tradition of European immigration which has led to strong economic, social and cultural transatlantic links.

The EU as a whole is its first partner in cooperation, its first investor and its second trade partner.

The Framework Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement between the EU and Argentina entered into force in 1990. It includes as fundamental principles two recurrent cornerstones of our cooperation policy: the strengthening of democracy and human rights, as well as regional integration. The follow-up of the agreement entails periodic meetings of the EU-Argentina Joint Commission.

During the 1990s, some sectoral agreements were concluded in this framework on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and science and technology.

Existing ongoing dialogues include a dialogue on Human Rights, one on macroeconomic issues and one on weapons of mass destruction.

As a founding member of Mercosur, Argentina is also a recipient country in line with the priorities described in the Mercosur Regional Strategy Paper 2007 – 2013 . Regarding regional integration, the EU and Mercosur signed a Framework Co-operation Agreement in 1995 whose main objective is the preparation of an inter-regional association agreement.