EU, Mercosur Ministers Ramp Up Efforts to Close Trade Deal During Brussels Meeting

Ministers have been meeting in Brussels this week, hoping to get within the final stretch of sealing a long-awaited trade deal uniting the EU and the four members of Mercosur, the South American coalition that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Talks for the trade pact first began nearly two decades ago. A potential trade agreement with Mercosur, spanning a combined GDP of €2.2 trillion (US$2.7 trillion) and 260 million consumers, would be among the EU’s largest scale pacts. Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Trade, and Phil Hogan, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, and their Mercosur counterparts met on Tuesday 30 January seeking to give political impetus and direction to wrap up negotiations, aiming to find mutually agreeable trade-offs on challenging issues including beef, ethanol, and trade in autos. Though a deal had not been announced at press time, reports suggest that new offers were exchanged and that officials would reconvene in the coming days to continue their deliberations. The proposed trade deal strives to lower trade barriers, strengthen labour and environmental protections, and create opportunities for growth and jobs, according to the European Commission. The agreement would cover trade in goods, services, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, sanitary...