MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU-Mercosur talks on track

European Union-Mercosur trade negotiations are on track according to the timetable agreed in Rio do Janeiro last August, and the recent Athens EU ministerial meeting ratified political support to the talks, said Pascal Lamy, EU Trade Commissioner currently visiting Mercosur member countries.

French born Mr. Lamy believes that the current war in Iraq will not interfere with the two blocks bilateral negotiations and stressed that in spite of foreign policy differences among its members, "the EU regarding foreign trade talks with an only voice and an only mouth, it's a common policy. We know this grants us a considerable presence in international trade affairs and it's a consensus that has been developing for many years".

Mr. Lamy pointed out that Mercosur and the EU recently exchanged tariffs proposals and have advanced in areas such as rules of origin, sanitary regulations, measures to encourage trade, "although we still have to work hard regarding services and government purchasing".

Further on Mr. Lamy said that the current diplomatic rift on Iraq between United States and some EU members hasn't been felt in trade affairs and given "the degree of interpenetration, I doubt it will occur".

"Trade between EU and the US is a billion US dollars per day; in the nineties half of US overseas investments went to Europe and European companies created seven million jobs in the US, so it's hard to see how Iraq could influence this relation. Current trade disputes represent 1% of overall trade and are basically different interpretations of commercial and tariff legislation", indicated Mr. Lamy.

Mr. Lamy also said that he has noted no lack of interest from the Bush administration in the World Trade Organization negotiations, where the US has great interests.

"WTO has very clear rules which prevent countries from shielding themselves behind unilateral or retaliatory actions, and besides there's no veto power as in the past".

"I'm convinced that in the current geopolitical tension scenario it's more important than ever to ensure that the world trade system can show stability and security", emphasized Mr. Lamy discarding any unilateral action from the US as happened with the United Nations.

"The most we can say is that the current uncertainty about the war and its duration is a negative contribution to an already deteriorated world economic situation", concluded the EU Trade Commissioner.