A new round of negotiations between foreign ministers from Mercosur countriesand representatives of the European Union for a free trade agreement should happen next week in Montevideo, Uruguay. According to Agência Brasil, Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nóvoa said that the negotiations are expected to be completed by March 2019.
According to Nóvoa, the deadline corresponds to a “window of opportunity” before the changes envisaged in the European Parliament.
Since 1999, Mercosur and the EU have been discussing a broad association agreement, including the free trade agreement, although negotiations have been completely stagnant between 2004 and 2010 and have only been resumed in 2016.
In order to complete the agreement, differences still need to be resolved in points concerning the automobile industry and access to product markets such as beef, sugar and dairy products.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.