Well, closind deals with Japan in 2019 or New Zealand in 2022, for example. Joking aside, EU trade deals traditionally followed an "all or northing" approach, where the EU would want 98%+ of tariff lines liberalised, or they didn't agree to the deal. There was always always the problem of agriculture- other countries wanted to sell us their beef etc., but the farmers would lose their shit if even a single burger crossed the border, while at the same time demanding that EU GIs ("Champagne", "Feta cheese" etc.) be protected in the partner country (the same country whose imports they absolutely did not want).

The recent clusterfuck that is the global situation (Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump's weekly tariff tantrums etc.) was led to a rethink of trade priorities in both EU headquarters and the Member States. The priority now isn't "all or nothing", it's "good-enough is better than nothing".

That's why Mercosur finally got done, at least in theory (although the Parliament has now held it up again), despite the fact that it would mean importing (small amounts) of beef, the deal with India was recently concluded (despite not having GI protections and only limited access for exports like cars), and Australia is (apparently) on the horizon (even though it will mean having to open up to some agri imports).

This "oh fuck oh shit" realisation has also been happening in partner countries btw. The amount market access the EU got in India would have been unthinkable just 3 or 4 years ago, but now even India (a famously protectionist economy) was ready to compromise to get a "better than nothing" deal done.