EU, Mercosur Negotiators Press On, Eyeing Deal in Near Term

Negotiators from the EU and Mercosur continued their efforts to advance towards a region-to-region Association Agreement and related trade deal, holding their twenty-eighth negotiating round in Brussels, Belgium, from 3-7 July. Talks between the two trading blocs have gained traction over the past year, with multiple negotiating rounds, and an exchange of market access offers in 2016. Officials have also said on multiple occasions that should this momentum continue, a political deal could be inked in 2017. The negotiations have been underway for nearly two decades, kicking off in 1999. (See Bridges Weekly, 23 March 2017 and 30 March 2017 ) A meeting between Argentine President Mauricio Macri and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in June sparked further speculation that the trade talks may be making faster progress than they have in previous years. (See Bridges Weekly, 15 June 2017 ) Negotiators report advances on “key issues” During the latest round, officials worked on a range of topics, including trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, and trade in services. Afterward, both sides released a joint communiqué stating that “progress had been made towards agreement on a number of key issues,” without specifying which of these areas, or the others also raised...