The presidents of the South American common market MERCOSUR confirmed in Paraguay their desire to solve the “remaining issues” on the free trade agreement with the EU, which both associations have been negotiating for the past 25 years, reported the Spanish news agency EFE.
In a joint statement issued at the end of the 64th MERCOSUR-US summit, the presidents of Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay, as well as Argentina's foreign minister, “reaffirmed the importance they attach to the negotiations with the European Union“.
They also “reaffirmed their will to resolve the remaining issues in the second half of this year and reach a balanced and mutually beneficial agreement”.
In 2019, MERCOSUR and the EU reached an agreement, but some technical issues have not yet been resolved.
Negotiations are being delayed by counter-demands, particularly on environmental regulations from the EU.
The presidents of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, of Uruguay Luiz Lacaye Pou, of Bolivia Luiz Arce and of Paraguay Santiago Peña participated in yesterday's meeting in Asuncion. Argentina's Foreign Minister Diana Mondino participated on behalf of President Javier Millay.
Furthermore, the dignitaries expressed their "firm commitment to strengthening, accelerating and modernizing MERCOSUR".
They also promised to work “to remove internal restrictions that hinder and impede the free exchange of goods and services” within the framework of the South American common market, which, according to them, “exacerbates the structural, currency and financial imbalances of the member states”.
The document also hailed the “progress made towards recent entry into force” of the free trade agreement signed with Singapore in 2023 - the first with a Southeast Asian country.
They also noted that the eleventh round of negotiations with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, "made it possible to resume dialogue".
MERCOSUR also stressed the importance of dialogue to strengthen economic relations with Japan, hoping efforts to “launch negotiations on a trade agreement” to be resumed.