Mercosur has scheduled a new meeting on September 18 to discuss the agreement between the bloc and the European Union, which has been debated for almost 20 years, reports Agência Brasil. The meeting was convened by Uruguay, which chairs Mercosur pro-tempore. The discussions should take place in Montevideo, with the objective of defining strategies for the implementation of the trade agreement with the European bloc.
Last month, President Michel Temer was optimistic about signing a free trade agreement later this year. “It is not unlikely that the agreement will be finalized in September,” the president said at the time in Johannesburg, South Africa.
But a few days ago, Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi wrote on his twitter: “I had another meeting with the agricultural sector that was stalling the Mercosur negotiations with the EU [the European Union], the dairy sector. put quotas and limitations on some sanitary barriers for imports there, making it clear that they have reached the limit of their supply. “
Inside
Obstacles to the agreement include health barriers, aspects relating to the automotive sector, intellectual property and, in particular, drug patent rules, geographical indications and maritime services.
Last month, Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez said the bloc is not willing to sign an agreement at any cost and said that not everything depends on Mercosur.
Vázquez criticized the European Union which he said was much faster in his negotiations with Japan and with more “political will” than he has shown in relation to Mercosur.
European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said the European Union is not satisfied with the progress of the negotiations. In the middle of this month, the European Commission considered that the negotiations had already made “important progress”.
Commission figures show that EU companies exported 42 billion euros worth of goods to Mercosur in 2016 and 22 billion euros in services in 2015. The South American bloc is also a major investor in the EU, with shares of 115 billion euros in 2014.
Other possibilities
Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez insists on Mercosur’s commercial vocation and has urged member countries to invest in different trading partners such as Canada, South Korea and Singapore. “There is the Pacific Alliance, there is China, Russia, Japan and the Eurasian Economic Union,” Vazquez said.
Mercosur, which has a population of more than 295 million people, includes Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, as well as Venezuela, which is suspended due to a breakdown of the democratic order, and Bolivia, which is in the process of joining.
This text was translated by machine from Brazilian Portuguese.