MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU-Mercosur talks stall; ministerial summit

European Union and Mercosur agreed this Thursday in Brasilia to suspend negotiations until September after failing to make progress in a bilateral trade agreement.

Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim said he was willing to convene a ministerial meeting to help overcome the stalemate.

Eduardo Sigal a member of the Argentine negotiating team revealed that next September 13 experts from both sides will be holding meetings but progress is conditioned to "very precise political instructions".

EU Trade Director Karl Falkenberg feeling frustrated about the outcome of the stalled talks complained that "we spent three days without concrete results, that's frustrating. Mercosur wants to see my complete hand before they show any flexibility".

Both sides seem to have advanced towards a deal with better access for Mercosur meat exports to the EU but failed to make significant progress on a wider market access agreement for basic farm produce.

"This is not a poker game" underlined Mr. Falkenberg who was bitter towards Mercosur for having conditioned the release of its improved market access proposal to the EU showing its entire game. Mr. Falkenberg said the EU began the talks in Brasilia with the presentation of "just an idea" regarding a possible market access increase for Mercosur meat products, considerably larger than in the previous round. "But we never discussed a concrete proposal on the issue", insisted Mr. Falkenberg.

Last Tuesday Brazilian negotiator Regis Arslanian who heads the Mercosur team told the press that EU had made the meat market proposal official which helped to encourage the negotiations that had been interrupted last July 21 in Brussels.

Mr. Falkenberg insisted that EU had assured improved conditions for Mercosur farm exports but in exchange "we expected guarantees in areas such as investments and government procurement". "I believe we'll have to meet with our ministers to tell us how we must move from now on", added the EU representative.

Failure to reach an agreement by the self imposed timetable of October 31 would be a serious setback for both sides. Mercosur has been after the agreement with EU for years and wants to show progress before having to address the United States sponsored Free Trade Association of the Americas. Brazilian president Lula da Silva is facing municipal elections next October and an agreement with the EU would be most timely.

On the other side EU is hoping to reach its largest bilateral trade deal before the new Commissioners take over next November. British former minister Peter Mandelson has been nominated as EU next Trade Commissioner, pending approval by the European Parliament.

"The EU piecemeal presentation creates a certain degree of anxiety in the talks" argued Mr. Arslanian.

"If we want to reach an agreement by October we need to accelerate the pace", warned Argentine Foreign Affairs and Trade Under-Secretary Martin Redrado.

Both sides agreed the following September meeting will take place in Brussels.