Brazil, Uruguay, and Bolivia Friday supported Paraguay's stance regarding Argentina's decision to charge tolls to barges sailing through the Port of Santa Fe-Confluencia section of the Parana River, it was reported in Buenos Aires after a new meeting of the Commission of the Paraguay-Parana Waterway Agreement.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Friday insisted in Paris on the advantages of using a common currency for foreign trade operations and underlined once again that the European Union's demands for the Mercosur agreement were a “threat.”
Paraguay's National Waterway Commission concluded that Argentina's technical explanations for charging tolls to vessels sailing through the Parana River between the Port of Santa Fe and the Confluence with the Paraguay River were inadequate and that there was no justification for such a unilateral measure, it was reported in Asunción.
Argentina's Customs General Directorate Tuesday banned Buquebús' Eladia Isabel from River Plate shuttle services to Uruguay due to its poor condition, it was reported in Buenos Aires. The vessel's sailing certifications were also found to have expired.
France's National Assembly (Lower House) Tuesday voted 281 to 58 against the approval of the EU- Mercosur trade deal on the grounds that it “may encourage” deforestation, among other issues contrary to the country's interests, it was reported in Paris.
France's Junior Trade Minister Olivier Becht expressed his concerns said this week during his visit to Brazil about concluding the EU-Mercosur deal too hastily. While his country does want a deal concluded between the European Union and South America’s Mercosur, Becht warns against entering into it too quickly, without assurances on environmental and social issues.
Ahead of July's EU summit with Latin American and Caribbean leaders in July, the first since 2015, the European Commission has unveiled a trade-oriented strategy to renew ties with a region that has been somewhat sidelined by the bloc in a chaotic few years in global politics. Approving the trade agreement with Mercosur is one of EU's priorities but there is French conditioning.
The Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú in the province of Misiones will host the LXII Mercosur Summit on July 3 and 4, during which Alberto Fernández will pass on the pro tempore presidency of the bloc to his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, it was announced Friday in Buenos Aires.
Justice Ministers of all Mercosur member countries Friday signed in Buenos Aires an agreement aimed at joint regulation of marriages. The document seeks to unify legal issues related to matrimonial matters, personal and patrimonial relations between spouses, divorce, matrimonial separation, and personal and patrimonial relations and dissolution of cohabitation unions within the bloc.
Paraguay's President-elect Santiago Peña Monday met in Buenos Aires with Argentine President Alberto Fernández and later in the day, he traveled to Montevideo for an encounter with President Luis Lacalle Pou as both La Plata River leaders were preparing to travel to Brasilia for the South American Summit convened by Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva.