Cafiero and his Mercosur counterparts met with EU representatives to advance the agreement

2023-07-17 23:15:56

Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, together with the foreign affairs ministers of the countries that make up the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), met on July 17 with the Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner of the European Union (EU), Valdis Dombrovskis , to advance the agreement between the blocks.

At the working meeting, which was also attended by the Foreign Ministers of Brazil (Mauro Vieira), Uruguay (Francisco Bustillo) and Paraguay (Julio César Arriola ) the status of the negotiations for a Mercosur-EU Association Agreement was discussed and the parties expressed their political support for the process to conclude shortlyreported the Argentine Foreign Ministry.

The Mercosur foreign ministers highlighted “the changes that have taken place globally since 2019, when both parties met to define some of the key points of the negotiations” and argued that “it is important to adapt the future agreement so that it can better respond to the challenges” the world is facing this year.

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In addition, they remarked “the impact generated by the pandemic at the global level and the effects of the climate emergency, as well as the considerable geopolitical tensions, to which is added the inequality that continues to be a significant threat to the subsistence of millions of people”it was reported in a statement.

The Mercosur foreign ministers emphasized that an Association Agreement with the EU can point to a new generation of trade negotiations, offering solutions that work for everyone, taking advantage of the complementarities of both regions in a balanced way.

Also, that support “the creation of bi-regional value chains as one of the pillars to increase trade and investment, generating quality employment, inclusion, access to technology and improving the quality of life in both regions, integrating trade and sustainable development in ways that increase economic opportunities while respecting the environment”.

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Santiago Cafiero is in Belgium as part of the entourage of Alberto Fernández, who traveled to Brussels this Monday to participate in the III Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac)where they aim to seal a memorandum of understanding on energy matters.

The meeting is part of the dispute over the trade agreement between the European bloc and Mercosur signed in 2019, but the Latin American countries denounce asymmetries in the conditions of understanding and also question the environmental demands made by the EU.

The regional bloc’s trade agreement with the European one constitutes one of the issues that generates the greatest tension within Mercosur, due to its internal debates and pressure from Uruguay to materialize it and finds reluctance in several European countries.

In recent days, France rejected the ratification of the agreement following considering it “too demanding”, except for the inclusion of environmental changes.

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Both Paraguay and Argentina and Uruguay reacted to the proposals, but Brazil asked for a little more time, within the framework of a change of government and, from that moment, they have been working on the texts.

“It’s been over four months, it’s not a huge delay and it’s important that we can revisit this deal.without reopening it, but reconsidering how to ensure that the two regions benefit from the agreement,” the sources remarked.

During the last Mercosur summit, held in the province of Misiones, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva took command of the Pro Tempore presidency of the regional bloc and still owes a response to the European “side letter” on environmental matters, as specified by the Government and on two other requests presented by Argentina related to SMEs, energy and environmental transition and the constitution of bi-regional value chains, which already have the approval of Paraguay and Uruguay.

“After this, it is necessary to see with all these elements how a single Mercosur position is consolidated, which is what we have been working on and quite well”they added.

The last summit of both blocks was in 2015, but the diversity of positions within the 33 CELAC countries complicates consensus on various issues with the EU. In this context, the announcement of a major European investment plan paved the way for dialogue.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Monday an investment of 45,000 million euros (50,560 million dollars) over a period of several years for the economies of Latin America through the Global Gateway program, an EU plan in response to China’s massive investment.

Von der Leyen met in the morning with the Brazilian president, who told him that his country has “a commitment to zero deforestation by 2030 in the Amazon.”

The consequences of the war in Ukraine, following Volodimir Zelenski was sidelined from the summit as a result of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, allies of Russia, speaking out once morest it, will be another of the topics at the meeting that takes place every eighth years and brings together 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and 27 European countries.

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