EU, Mercosur Negotiators Report Progress, Schedule Future Meetings

Negotiators meeting to advance a planned EU-Mercosur Association Agreement, including a free trade deal, finished their 27 th round of talks last Friday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a joint communiqué issued on 27 March, officials said that they have made significant headway in the three key areas of the future Association Agreement, which includes the above-mentioned deal on trade, as well as sections on enhancing political dialogue and cooperation between the blocs. The lead-up to this latest round had seen officials express a heightened interest in bringing the long-running talks closer to conclusion, after years of on-and-off progress. Talks for an EU-Mercosur deal kicked off in 1999 and were later re-launched in 2010, only to flounder in 2012. Momentum began to pick up again last year. (See Bridges Weekly, 23 March 2017 ) Mercosur members include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, though Venezuela is only an observer in the negotiations with the EU, given that it joined the South American customs union long after those talks began. Progress announced, upcoming rounds After last week’s meetings, officials said that they now have in place a common negotiating text to work from in every area of the planned Association Agreement...