MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercosur expects the EU to match the latest offer for a trade agreement

Uruguay’s Luis Almagro said the block must have a ‘pro-positive’ attitude

Mercosur Foreign Affairs ministers meeting on Monday in Argentina said they trust the European Union will match the latest offer from the South American block to make possible a trade and cooperation agreement that has remained elusive for years.

“Mercosur offer is very positive, I’d say excellent and we hope the European Union matches our move so we can reach a fair and balanced agreement”, said the Brazilian Foreign Affairs minister Celso Amorim during the Mercosur Council meeting in anticipation of Tuesday’s presidential summit.

Amorim pointed out that Brazil, that takes over the pro tempore Mercosur chair from Argentina for the second half of the year will emphasize negotiations with the EU, but warned that it also wants to promote trade discussions with other developing countries. “The EU and the US are large attractive markets, but they are also the slowest growing” and have yet to recover from the latest global downfall.

The Brazilian official also underlined that Mercosur is the back-bone of South American integration because it has enabled to advance in the effective integration of the region in several fields and not only in trade affairs.

Uruguay’s Foreign Affaire minister Luis Almagro said that in negotiations with the EU, Mercosur “can’t play down; we need a maximalist proposal. Mercosur must have a pro-positive position”.

Mercosur/EU trade talks which had remained stalled for years were resumed a month ago in Buenos Aires following the re-launching agreed last May during the Ibero-American summit in Madrid.

Talks however haven’t been as fluid as expected since several members of the EU 27, such as France does not believe it is the right moment for the resumption since Mercosur is highly competitive in agriculture and this will have a negative effect on the farming sector at a tough moment for European Treasury subsidies and employment.

Argentina’s contribution was also limited since the EU, and several other trade partners, have accused the government of Buenos Aires of imposing barriers and other non written impediments to the imports of foodstuff from the EU.

Almagro also cautioned that Mercosur must pay special attention to world financial markets and those to which the block’s exports are targeted, “because that’s where a big share of a strong development for Mercosur is at stake”.

Following the international crisis “Uruguay experienced a significant demand contraction from developed markets” said Almagro who underlined that the four Mercosur members managed to address and overcome the downfall successfully and they are “currently the fastest growing economies in the region”.