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.
Spain is set to hold an early general election on July 23, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday. The announcement comes after Sanchez Socialist Party suffered serious setbacks to the conservative opposition in regional elections held on Sunday.
Regarding the European Union-Mercosur trade deal, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted that his government's purchases were non-negotiable and promised not to give in because it would entail killing ”the possibility of growth of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). The Workers' Party leader also admitted that discrepancies on this point might delay the agreement a little longer.”
Paraguay remained the Latin American country with the highest projected growth for the year 2023, according to a Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) study that also showed that the region has hit its poorest business climate in the last nine months, it was reported. Argentina is at the bottom of the list.
Argentina's Ambassador to Brazil Daniel Scioli and Communications Minister Juscelino Filho Tuesday agreed to advance towards the suppression of roaming between both countries in a new step of the Mercosur integration process heralded by Presidents Alberto Ferenández and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, it was reported in Buenos Aires.
The group of countries that make up the Paraguay-Parana Waterway Agreement Committee suggested Argentina refrained from adopting measures that violate the agreed rules and stop charging tolls to barges passing through Santa Fe. The committee is made up of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.