MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

European business lobby urges Brussels to accelerate trade talks with Mercosur

In a letter, the head of industrial lobby BusinessEurope Pierre Gattaz urged EC president Jean-Claude Juncker to seal a deal before the Brazilian election campaign

European companies are urging the European Union to accelerate trade negotiations with Mercosur bloc, in a sign of concern that the 20-year talks could once again fall dormant if they do not reach an accord this week.

 In a letter, the head of industrial lobby BusinessEurope Pierre Gattaz urged European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to seal a deal before the campaign season for general elections in Brazil begins.

“BusinessEurope is becoming increasingly concerned that we may miss the opportunity to conclude the negotiations for what would be a breakthrough trade agreement,” the letter said. “In the many years of the negotiating process, never have we felt so close to the objective as in the last weeks. We hope that the final step of the journey will be made shortly.”

The letter highlights efforts by businesses and policymakers to keep alive an agenda of multilateral free trade agreements at a time when the United States is turning more protectionist, escalating trade tensions with its allies and China.

Representatives for the Mercosur group of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay have gone to Brussels this week, seeking to iron out the final details of the accord before European summer recess in August. A group of Mercosur ministers will follow next week, in the hopes of sealing a deal.

Should talks fall flat next week, there would be no clear calendar for the window to reopen, a source following the negotiations on behalf of Mercosur commented, as the Brazil vote is followed by European Parliament elections in 2019.

EU-Mercosur trade talks picked up in the last two years, but they have yet to reach consensus on key topics.

Mercosur has resisted a European proposal for a proposed tariff of 98 Euros per ton on sugar imports and a quota on ethanol imports that they say is too small. In turn, the EU has yet to rule on Mercosur’s offer to halve auto import tariffs before gradually reducing them during a transition period lasting as long as 15 years.

There are also disagreements remaining in areas such as Latin American beef and European dairy products, as well as regulations over intellectual property, geographical identification and rules of origin for several products.