Mercosur/European sixth round of negotiations to reach a wide ranging cooperation and trade agreement took off Monday in Brussels, but rather timidly with no immediate prospects of an exchange of proposals for market access.
A top European Commission official is on a round of visits to South American countries to strengthen economic, industrial and tourism ties with the region because Latin America has emerged as “a strategic and dynamic economic player”.
The European Commission will recommend that EU member governments finalize accession talks with Croatia, clearing an important hurdle on Zagreb's path to joining the 27-strong bloc.
The European Commission is planning to reform the EU fishing industry by giving vessels quota shares guaranteed for periods of at least 15 years. The commission will issue a proposal on reforming the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, in July, to take effect in 2013.
A new system of fishery control with continent-wide, common rules and penalties is now fully operational, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
Ireland believes it looks increasingly unlikely that there will be a Mercosur-European Union trade deal before the end of the year. Mercosur and the EU resumed trade talks in May 2010 with the objective of reaching a deal by the end of 2011.
Argentina's moves to restrict imports and prop up its shrinking trade surplus as well as European farmers resistance to ‘cheap’ meat imports could hurt talks for a trade deal between Mercosur and the European Union, an EU official said on Wednesday.
This week’s strong statement from the European Parliament warning about concessions that ‘can adversely affect European farmers’, precisely a week before Mercosur and EU delegates meet in Brussels to advance trade discussions has caused a certain degree of uncertainty among the South American group delegates.
The European Court of Auditors has called on the European Commission to assess the high risks involved, including corruption, when large sums of EC aid are channelled directly through public budgets in developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The year 2011 will be economically challenging and painful, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned this week. After two years of economic recession, Barroso expects a difficult year ahead and underlined the need for Europe to make progress on economic governance and policy coordination.