Talks aimed at setting up a U.S.-European free trade zone have run aground because of intransigence on Washington's part, a top German politician said Sunday. The Obama administration and the 28-member European Union have been in talks to set up the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, which would be the world's largest free trade zone.
Uruguay's foreign minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa said on Thursday that all agriculture products are included in negotiations for a wide ranging trade and cooperation agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. The chief negotiator for Mercosur underlined that contrary to what was announced by some media, beef and ethanol are included in the proposals exchanged on Wednesday in Brussels between the two blocks.
Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and the Foreign Affairs Minister of Uruguay Rodolfo Nin Novoa, on Wednesday exchanged EU and Mercosur offers on access to their respective markets of goods, services and establishment and government procurement. However this first exchange excluded 'sensitive' items such as beef and ethanol, according to EU sources. The details of the documents exchanged were not made public.
European farmers took to the streets of Dublin outside the EU Commission offices to highlight the potential “sellout” of the multi-billion-euro beef industry in trade talks with Mercosur. Concerns have been rising over discussions at EU level over the impact a deal with Mercosur would have on Ireland's €2.5bn beef industry, which depends on EU markets for over 90% of its exports.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) is to protest on Wednesday May 4, in Dublin against the proposed Mercosur and TTIP trade deals. The protest will take place outside the offices of the European Commission in the Irish capital.
The European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Foreign Minister of Uruguay, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the South American trading bloc Mercosur, agreed on Friday in Brussels on the next steps in the negotiations on an EU-Mercosur trade agreement.
Uruguay Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa is scheduled to begin this Friday in Brussels what is believed to be the last round of talks with the European Union to reach a wide ranging cooperation and trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.
Uruguay, now with the support from Argentina, is very much interested in advancing with the cooperation and trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, and is planning for president Tabare Vazquez to attend a Brussels meeting with EU officials to emphasize the matter.
Mercosur is only waiting for the European Union to begin the political negotiations on the long delayed overall trade agreement, announced Paraguay's foreign minister Eladio Loizaga in Asunción, just back from Brussels where he met with EU and Belgian officials.
Paraguay's foreign minister Eladio Loizaga is in Brussels holding a round of talks with different European Union officials regarding the trade and cooperation agreement with Mercosur, while in Brazil Industry and foreign trade minister Armando Monteiro announced that Mercosur was finally ready to advance with a wide range proposal.