MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU/Mercosur talks in Brussels to outline ‘work scheme’ for trade accord

EU Trade Commissar Karel De Gucht confident about progress in negotiations

The European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc resumed on Monday a new round of talks in Brussels aimed at reaching free trade agreement in the near future after years of no talks. In the immediate the blocs are seeking to outline a “work scheme” that could be kicked off in December.

The meeting is the second time representatives from the European Commission -that gathers the 27 countries belonging to the European Union- and Mercosur delegates join for a round of talks since they decided in May that they were to resume their negotiations.

The talks are set to continue until Friday and have been resumed “under a pragmatic sense, aiming at moving forward in every general topic”, indicated Mercosur sources.

The first round of talks was staged in Buenos Aires earlier in June after negotiations had been stalled for six years. The Doha Round frozen negotiation talks boosted the to-be-the-first meeting between the Mercosur and the European Union blocs.

The agriculture issue is expected to be the most controversial given the strong resistance inside the EC from a group of eleven countries led by France which fear the strong competitiveness from Mercosur food industries.

European farmers are demanding from the EC a “more solid” Common Agriculture Policy to protect agriculture and farmers at a time of growing unemployment in the EU. Poland, Austria, Ireland are among those strongly supporting the French position.

According to the Argentine Foreign Affairs ministry the delegations with address “all issues”, (including agriculture) and have been exchanging information during August and September.

EU Trade Commissar Karel De Gucht during a recent visit to Brazil and Argentina said he was optimistic about progress in negotiations which “should conclude in an accord sometimes in the first half of next year in spite of significant ongoing differences”.

Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Conde expressed a similar forecast during a September trip to Prague when he said that negotiations are expected to conclude satisfactorily sometime next year.

Brazil which holds Mercosur chair leads the delegation in Brussels.

According to Brazilian sources the new round includes 90% of EU/Mercosur bilateral trade, which is a 20% increase over the negotiations that started in 1999 and stalled in 2004. At the time the automobile and spares sectors were not included.

The EU is Mercosur main trade partner and investor. However both China and the US (with a cheap dollar) are advancing strongly in the area.