President Dilma Rousseff, meeting with her Irish peer Michael D. Higgins said the global crisis has had a greater impact on Argentina than on Brazil, which has a stronger industrial base, and called for a better understanding of President Cristina Fernandez administration.
Uruguayan Industry, Energy and Mining minister Roberto Kreimerman called on the European Union and Mercosur members to double efforts and advance in negotiations to achieve a wide ranging association agreement which has been discussed for almost two decades.
The president of the European Commission Jose Durao Barroso said on Tuesday that the EU 27 members still want to reach a free trade agreement with Mercosur, but warned that the “protectionist stances” from some of its members makes it difficult.
French Foreign Trade minister Nicole Bricq said that there are “great problems” in the current negotiations between the EU and Mercosur to reach an association agreement which also includes a free trade chapter.
The European Commission remains “on hold” waiting for the evolution of events in Mercosur with the incorporation of Venezuela as full member and the suspension of Paraguay, before addressing a new round of association and trade negotiations.
The European Union - Mercosur trade negotiations calendar has been delayed and its full resumption is expected to take place in September or soon after, reports the EU press office in Montevideo.
The removal of Fernando Lugo as president of Paraguay interrupted European Union/Mercosur discussions, which could resume following the April 2013 presidential elections said on Wednesday the European Parliament mission visiting Asunción.
The European Commission has said it will continue negotiations on an association agreement with Mercosur even if Venezuela finally becomes a full member of the group and will address the issue on a “region to region” basis.
Spain’s Foreign Affairs minister Jose Garcia Margallo said that Madrid supports negotiations for a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union on a “region to region” basis, back stepping from his proposal last April to exclude Argentina following the seizure of YPF from Repsol.
A new round of talks between the European Union and Mercosur is scheduled to begin Monday in Brussels for a week, according to a press release from the Argentine Foreign Affairs.