European leaders call for finalizing agreement with Mercosur

BRUSSELS,  25-06-2019
Seven heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) signed a letter on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s initiative to call for the finalization of negotiations on the trade agreement between Brussels and the Group of South American Countries (Mercosur).

The heads of government of the seven countries in the letter signed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others that it is time to complete the deal and face the “threat of protectionism” and other geopolitical factors affecting exports.

They stressed that the agreement would make the Mercosir region the main trading partner of the European Union and give European companies access to a market of 260 million consumers, stressing that the European Union can not give way to trade protectionist or populist arguments and should benefit from the political momentum of Mercosur countries to avoid This opportunity was wasted.

Technical negotiations for an agreement between the European Union and Mercosur Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay began in Buenos Aires in April 2000 and since then more than 30 rounds of negotiations have been held and the complex process has been suspended for several years.

EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said a trade deal with the Mercosur countries could be concluded by the end of her term but “not at any price.”

In recent weeks, many heads of state have given positive impetus to this agreement, even if at least another round of technical negotiations is needed to resolve recent differences after 20 years of negotiations.

In addition to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the prime minister was Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Prime Minister Mark Ruti, Prime Minister Andrei Papis of the Czech Republic, Prime Minister of Latvia Krissjanis Karinz and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Luvven.

Leaders in the letter said the Mercosur countries had made significant progress in their internal thinking about the agreement and seemed determined to achieve greater liberalization for the sectors that were very important to Europeans such as the automotive industry, the chemical industry and the pharmaceutical industry.

The signatories believe that the European Commission should be aware of these developments in order to finalize the agreement.

The letter called on Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that the European Commission send Messengers a “balanced and reasonable” offer to make the Convention a reality.