EU set to resume Mercosur trade deal talks early next month
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EU and South American negotiators will meet early next month in Brasilia for the first in-person talks since April, raising hopes that an EU-Mercosur trade deal can be concluded this year, diplomats said.
In the works for two decades, an agreement has been delayed by European concerns over environmental safeguards and complaints by the Mercosur trade bloc that those questions are motivated by protectionism.
"We are travelling to Brasilia for an in-person round of negotiations," a European diplomat said. "The end-of-year timetable for conclusion is realistic," he said.
The meetings are due to take place between September 4 and 6.
Brazil and Uruguay both confirmed the meeting dates.
Uruguay's foreign ministry said that the negotiating process "continues firmly" and that technical work has carried on "uninterrupted" between both sides.
"There is interest from Mercosur in closing this agreement," a Uruguayan foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters.
Foreign ministry representatives in Argentina and Paraguay did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The talks suffered a blow in March when French president Emmanuel Macron called it a “very bad deal” on a visit to Brazil, voicing the opposition of French farmers. Negotiations were delayed due to EU elections.
Diplomats said the issues on the table remain the same, including European protection of food product names and Brazilian opposition to an EU anti-deforestation law due to go into effect next year that could affect its exports.
French, German, and Belgian farmers have protested against competition from cheaper South American imports.
EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had committed themselves to concluding the agreement by the end of the year.
At this stage, the EU is the main driver of the fresh push to finish the deal, which will open up markets for European companies, said international relations scholar Ignacio Bartesaghi at Uruguay's Catholic University.
- Reuters