Brussels warns that negotiations on Mercosur are nonetheless open | Economy | EUROtoday

The European Commission continues negotiating with Mercosur to shut the commerce settlement. Despite stress from France – President Emmanuel Macron despatched a letter to Brussels asking to finish these talks – and the extension of the agricultural protests, which have free commerce pacts of their sights, the vice chairman of the Executive of the Union and head of its commerce coverage, Valdis Dombrovskis, recalled this Monday within the European Parliament that “the negotiation continues.” “Obviously I have heard President Macron's statements. And also those of the chancellor [Olaf] Scholz and those of the President of the Government [Pedro] Sánchez, who are really very supportive of this agreement,” responded to the MEPs once they requested him concerning the standing of those talks.

The French rejection of the pact with Mercosur, like that of Ireland or Austria, doesn’t come up from the current agricultural protests. It comes lengthy. Paris, for instance, took benefit of the altering of the guard within the Argentine Government in December to point out its rejection of the closing of the commerce settlement. Then the outgoing administration in Buenos Aires, that of Alberto Fernández, didn’t need to assume the duty of signing the pact as soon as and for all, and France aligned itself with that place. In current weeks, the channel has been the agricultural protests. The level is that the nice commerce settlement with the Latin American area often known as Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) continues to be pending ratification virtually 5 years after reaching an settlement in precept, a degree reached after greater than 20 years of talks. .

From Europe – primarily France, the Netherlands, Austria and Ireland, plus the European Parliament – there was resistance, extra environmental dedication was demanded. The arrival of the far-right Jair Bolsonaro to the Brazilian presidency served as an excuse for his detractors to place the precept of settlement within the freezer. Lula's return to energy in Brasilia appeared like a possibility to revive it, however previous resistance prospers with every new issue.

“After the last rounds of negotiation, the conclusions were that the conditions were not yet met to conclude the agreement,” mentioned Dombrovskis within the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament. “At some specific points, in the Mercosur agreement, obviously, we are even looking at agricultural issues. We have been very careful in calibrating the level of access, for example in the area of ​​beef […]. We have incorporated a safeguard mechanism […]. And there are also possibilities of financial support for farmers should the need arise, although we do not expect it,” he reviewed, before recalling that “the European Commission is negotiating, based on the mandate of 27 Member States and consulting some member states”.

The intervention of the Trade Commissioner in the European Parliament, focused on the impact of trade policy on the agricultural sector, has been marked, logically, by the latest farmers' protests. However, the Latvian politician has not been daunted by the situation. He has recognized the work of farmers. But he has asked that the debate on commercial exchanges, also those of the primary sector, be based on data and facts: “We must avoid mixing apples with pears and not act based on perceptions, sometimes erroneous and contrary to the interests of our society, including the interests of our farmers.” This phrase got here on the finish of his preliminary intervention, during which he defended that the EU has a commerce surplus within the major sector of 60 billion euros.

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