Scottish farmers have openly expressed their opposition to the ongoing trade talks between the European Union and Mercosur demanding guarantees on human health, animal health and food safety before any additional access for imported products from the South American block is agreed.
Deceased French president Francois Mitterrand in 1989 gave his approval to German unification on condition that then Chancellor Helmut Kohl opened the way for the creation of an only currency in the European Union.
In anticipation of a new round of Mercosur/European Union trade talks to take place in Brussels, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht confirmed he remained hopeful a deal could be struck in the coming twelve months, following the recent experience with South Korea.
The European Union remains fully committed to reach a free trade agreement with Mercosur said Geoffrey Barrett head of the EU delegation in Uruguay and Paraguay, during a EU sponsored conference in Asunción.
EU trade chief Karel De Gucht said on Tuesday in Brazil that a EU-Mercosur trade pact could happen “in less than a year”, despite France's “firm” opposition to a deal with the South American block.
European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is expected in Brazil to advance trade talks with Mercosur. Brazil currently holds the Mercosur rotating chair. The top EU official will visit Argentina later in the week.
European Union has reached an agreement on reforms in the financial sector with the creation of a European Systemic Risk Council and three new watchdogs covering banking, insurance and securities markets.
An anti-corruption academy co-sponsored by the United Nations opened Thursday in Austria with the aim of filling the rising global need for training, research and contemporary measures and techniques in the fight against corruption.
Mercosur Foreign Affairs ministers meeting on Monday in Argentina said they trust the European Union will match the latest offer from the South American block to make possible a trade and cooperation agreement that has remained elusive for years.
The population in the European Union (EU) rose to over 500 million this year, official figures released by the EU statistics office Eurostat on Tuesday showed.