MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU blames Mercosur for stalled trade talks

The conclusion of a trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur depends on “political decisions from both sides”, but “particularly from Mercosur”, said this week EU Trade Commissar Pascal Lamy addressing the European Parliament.

With only two months for the self imposed conclusion timetable, "negotiations are at a difficult point" said Mr. Lamy who reiterated that "EU is willing to advance further in access to EU agriculture markets", for Mercosur produce.

But this is only possible if the other side adopts a similar attitude regarding services and investment and so far Mercosur's proposal "on the table is not enough for us to present further concessions", underlined Mr. Lamy.

According to EU diplomatic sources last May Mercosur promises of increasing access to investment markets, and telecommunications, maritime transport and banking services "have not been presented" as a written proposal.

EU is requesting from Mercosur better access conditions in services, investments and government purchasing, while Mercosur wants larger export quotas for agriculture produce such as wheat and beef, and not limited to ten years.

Mercosur is also against linking current talks with EU to the multilateral World Trade Organization round. During last July and August discussions remained stalled.

Mr. Lamy said that in the coming weeks he will try to agree with Mercosur negotiators "when and how do we advance to the final stage" of discussions that are expected to be concluded by the end of October.

So far both sides are scheduled to meet in Brussels September 13/17 with a follow-up negotiating round in Brasilia September 20, but conditioned "to ministerial contacts" to ensure talks advance.

As to the October deadline Mr. Lamy said the option remains open but "we're not going to sacrifice substance for the calendar". The European Trade Commissar also pointed out that the "inter region negotiation continues linked to the WTO round" since EU must "split concessions" between Mercosur and internationally.

"We want an ambitious agreement with Mercosur" both regarding market access and trade rules but we face an "asymmetrical negotiation" since Mercosur is made up of developing countries and is still in full integration process, concluded Mr. Lamy.