Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum (C) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and President of the European Council Antonio Costa, hold hands as they pose for a picture during a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on May 22, 2026. The European Union and Mexico will sign a deal on May 22 to reduce tariffs on each other’s goods, as both seek to lessen their dependence on trade with the United States.
Photo by Gerardo Luna / AFP via Getty Images
The Briefing:
Belén Martínez Carbonell, a career Spanish EU diplomat who most recently ran the bloc’s entire foreign policy machinery in Brussels, formally launched her tenure as EU Ambassador to Mexico on November 3 by presenting credentials to the country’s Foreign Ministry.Her arrival comes months after Mexico and the EU signed the Modernized Global Agreement on May 22, 2026 — the two countries’ first bilateral summit in eleven years — a sweeping overhaul that eliminates tariffs on 99% of products and replaces a commercial framework in place since 2000.The European Parliament approved the deal 479–119 on July 8; full implementation still requires ratification by Mexico’s Senate and all 27 EU member states, making her mandate central to one of the most consequential trade timelines in Latin America.
A newly designated EU envoy formally launched her diplomatic mission in Mexico City on Monday, stepping into a bilateral relationship that has undergone its deepest transformation in more than two decades — and inheriting a ratification race that will define her entire tenure.
Belén Martínez Carbonell, who served as Secretary-General of the European External Action Service since February 2025, presented copies of her letters of credence to Jonathan Chait, head of Protocol at Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, on November 3. The step formally activated her authority as the bloc’s top representative in the country.
A Seasoned Diplomat Steps Down From Brussels — and Up to Mexico City
Martínez Carbonell brings more than three decades of EU institutional experience to the posting. The Spanish diplomat, born in Ourense in 1969, built her career across both the European Commission and the EEAS, rising to serve as the number two to High Representative Kaja Kallas and coordinating the EU’s entire internal foreign policy apparatus before transitioning to her new assignment.
She replaces Francisco André, the Portuguese diplomat who served as EU representative in Mexico from September 2024 and who took office as EU Ambassador to Brazil on September 3, 2026. André departed with an unusually personal farewell, describing his travels from Tijuana to Cancún as formative experiences and declaring the EU-Mexico relationship “stronger than ever.” The groundwork he laid hands Martínez Carbonell a foundation built on momentum — but the structural work of full treaty implementation remains ahead.
She set an optimistic tone from the start, writing on X after presenting her credentials: “¡Qué alegría estar en México! Con mucha ilusión, comienzo mi misión como Embajadora de la UE en México, con el compromiso de seguir fortaleciendo los lazos entre la UE y México.”
The Trade Overhaul at the Center of Her Mandate
The Modernized Global Agreement is the defining commercial event of the current EU-Mexico relationship. Signed on May 22, 2026, at the two sides’ first bilateral summit in eleven years — held at Mexico City’s National Palace — the MGA replaces a framework that has governed ties since 2000 and that has already driven bilateral goods trade to approximately $88.2 billion in 2025, up from a fraction of that figure when the original accord entered into force.
The scale of the update is significant. The agreement eliminates tariffs on 99% of products, opens up agricultural trade in both directions, and extends protection to 568 EU geographical indications — traditional European food and drink products, from Prosciutto di Parma to Manchego cheese, that will now be legally shielded from counterfeiting and imitation in Mexican markets. The EU is Mexico’s second-largest investor, with foreign direct investment reaching approximately $9.9 billion in 2025.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum (R) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, shake hands after the signing of agreements during a press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City on May 22, 2026. The European Union and Mexico will sign a deal on May 22 to reduce tariffs on each other’s goods, as both seek to lessen their dependence on trade with the United States.
Photo by Gerardo Luna / AFP via Getty Images
Parliament Said Yes — Now Comes the Hard Part
The European Parliament cleared the agreement on July 8, 2026, approving it by 479 votes to 119, with 65 abstentions — clearing one of the highest institutional hurdles in the process. The EU Council subsequently adopted the decision to formally conclude the faster-tracked Interim Trade Agreement on July 14. But full implementation of the broader Modernized Global Agreement still requires ratification by all 27 EU national parliaments and Mexico’s Senate.
Mexico’s Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard argued after the European Parliament vote that the agreement could enter into force within the same year once the Mexican Senate completes its own ratification process. On the diplomatic side, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán — the former Mexican ambassador to the United States — was confirmed as Mexico’s new ambassador to the EU, Belgium, and Luxembourg in July 2026, and has been coordinating Mexico’s ratification strategy across European capitals ever since.
Alignment on Both Sides — the Question Is Speed
That coordinated push gives Martínez Carbonell a counterpart equally focused on turning a signed text into an operating commercial reality. With a confirmed Mexican envoy in Brussels and a veteran EU diplomat in Mexico City, the institutional architecture is in place. The question her tenure will answer is whether that alignment can compress a ratification timeline that has historically stretched across years — and in some cases, across a decade.
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