Uruguay has expressed an interest in actively participating in negotiations to liberalize trade in services in the framework of TISA, Trade in Services Agreement which recently held its seventh round of talks in Geneva.
Paraguay's Foreign minister Eladio Loizaga said on Monday that at the latest in early February Mercosur and the European Union would be exchanging their tariff reduction proposals for the much delayed free trade agreement. The deadline originally was December but it was delayed on request from Brussels.
Argentina's Foreign Ministry refuted an article by Brazilian newspaper Valór Económico reporting that negotiations between Mercosur and the European Union had been delayed by the failure to reach agreement with Argentina over a joint proposal of goods to include in a free trade agreement
The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso anticipated that 'soon' there will be 'events' referred to the EU/Mercosur cooperation and trade agreement and underlined that Brazil is most interested in making possible such an accord.
Mercosur has many internal problems and therefore it is much easier to work with Brazil, said European Commission Vice-President for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani who spent this week two days of negotiations with top officials in Brasilia.
Global efforts to battle trade protectionism need to be reinforced to help shield the fragile economic recovery across the world said a report released on Monday by the European Commission in which it claims Brazil and Argentina are among the main offenders when it comes to import duties hikes and government procurement limitations.
Free trade agreements, FTA, signed by the European Union with Colombia, and with Central American countries Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama became effective August first as part of the EU strategy to eliminate tariffs on trade with Central American and the Andean region.
The European Commission says it has reached an amicable solution with Beijing in a row over imports of Chinese solar panels. Both sides have agreed a minimum price for the panels, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.
France threatened to block the start of free trade talks between the European Union and the United States if movies and digital media are not kept out the negotiations. Two days before EU countries are supposed to give the go-ahead for negotiations France said it would veto the talks unless the sector - that it sees as crucial to its cultural identity and under threat from Hollywood - is excluded.
The European Commission agreed Tuesday negotiating guidelines for talks with the United States on the world's biggest Free Trade Agreement, stressing a pragmatic approach to even sensitive subjects.