Bilateral trade negotiations between the European Union and MERCOSUR (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) began in 1995. After an initial phase of dialogue at the political level, in 2001 the two blocks commenced negotiations on the goods and services to be included in the trade liberalisation process. In this framework, a first list of sensitive products was drawn up, and agricultural products feature heavily on this list. In this context, in order to understand the two blocs¿ negotiating positions it is vitally important to have a comparative analysis of their respective agricultural policies, since these policies are based on each side¿s agricultural policy objectives and the kinds of instruments used to pursue these objectives. In this report we review different studies of the subject and undertake an analysis from two specific angles: (i) first, we cover agricultural policy in all its dimensions, with detailed consideration of trade aspects (market access and measures relating to exports), and with particular emphasis on internal policies to support agriculture; and second, we approach this question from the perspective of EUMERCOSUR bilateral free trade negotiations so as to identify the policy measures most relevant to the negotiations. Our analysis in this study is based on information gathered by IICA, ECLAC and CIRAD, and also REDPA's contributions, which have been systematized in a database developed at ECLAC.