A Mercosur/EU trade agreement will not include UK, warns European Parliament president

Wednesday, August 24th 2016 - 06:06 UTC

Full article 64 comments

“If the EU and Mercosur reach an integral agreement, UK will not be part of the accord. This is a great disappointment, particularly for the UK”, said Shulz

The president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said in Buenos Aires that if finally a trade and cooperation agreement is reached between the European Union and Mercosur the United Kingdom will not benefit as a consequence of Brexit.

”If the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela) reach an integral agreement, the United Kingdom will not be part of the accord. This is a great disappointment, particularly for the UK“, said the German lawmaker during a press conference in Buenos Aires.

In private talks with president Mauricio Macri and officials from the Argentine foreign ministry, Shultz said categorically that the EU/Mercosur discussions ”will not be affected in no way, by the domestic situation“ inside the South American block.

The issue was also pointed out by the Argentine deputy foreign minister Carlos Foradori who underlined that EU countries should not get involved in ”unfavorable comments about the bilateral relations between the two blocks, since talks are continuing and there is a clear commitment from all founding members”.

Venezuela is not included in the talks with EU, which are ongoing since 1999 and the fifth member only fully joined Mercosur in 2012 and still has to incorporate many administrative, political and commercial rules and rulings from the group.

Shultz also admitted that moving ahead with the Mercosur negotiations encounters difficulties and resistance from EU members, conditioned by their own interests and the fact it is a heterogeneous organization.

The European parliament president is on a South American tour which includes Argentina and Colombia.

Categories: Politics, Argentina, International, Latin America, Mercosur.

Tags: Argentina, Carlos Foradori, EU-Mercosur, European Parliament, Martin Schulz, Mauricio Macri President.

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LEPRecon
Well Mr Schulz since we won't be tied down by pointless and overly complicated EU red tape I'm sure we can make separate arrangements with countries in South America...or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

I mean just how long have these 'negotiations' been going on between the EU and So Am? Since 1999! Years and years (17 and counting) of pointless talk with either one member of the EU (well mainly the French) blocking any agreement as they fear it would harm their domestic market.

So Mr Schulz, the UK will go from strength to strength, making trade deals with whom they want, when they want, and won't have the constant headache of petty infighting as currently happens in the EU.

I'll bet the UK has trade deals with So Am long before the EU does.
Aug 24th, 2016 - 06:25 am 0
Kanye
Exactly.

Big whoopdy doo, Mr. Schulz!
Aug 24th, 2016 - 07:22 am 0
Islander1
Who cares a twopenny ***** what this guy says - he actually has no final say anyway! Has he canvassed UK public and commercial trade opinion before he spouted? - No - of course not - but then he IS in fantasy land at the moment(Argentina) so naturally he is full of fantasy!
Aug 24th, 2016 - 10:44 am 0

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