Brussels, 22/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - Paraguay's Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga said this week that the content of the offers on market access would be kept secret from the public and press until the EU and Mercosur move on to their exchange (hopefully by the end of 2015).
“This is no secret negotiation or has the intention of being kept secret, but these are normal procedures once the two sides' proposals are exchanged and begin negotiations. Following that stage all becomes open”, Loizaga stated, as quoted by Uruguayan news agency Merco Press on Wednesday 21 October. Loizaga admitted that there were “sensitive issues” for the EU (particularly as regards agriculture, including beef) and for Mercosur (as regards services and government procurement).
Loizaga also said there would be meetings in Brussels with European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini once “the position of the four Mercosur-members (Ed: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -with Venezuela not participating in the free trade talks between the two blocs) will be confirmed” and they “are ready to begin talks”.
Paraguay currently holds the rotating presidency of Mercosur and will continue to do so until December. Uruguay will then take over the presidency and, like Brazil, is determined to conclude an agreement.
The process for an exchange of offers on market access is continuing over the course of the last quarter of 2015 after the technical level meeting of the EU and Mercosur chief negotiators in Asuncion on 1-2 October. This meeting enabled additional information to be exchanged on the content of the respective offers - which cover market access for agricultural and industrial goods, and also services and government procurement.
The goal is to exchange offers in the last quarter of 2015 - but ensuring that the conditions for a successful exchange are met is more important than the timetable, the Commission has said on several occasions. The two sides are currently continuing their assessment of the information exchanged by the chief negotiators in order “to determine the best path to follow” - the objective being for the two sides to be “confident as to the level of ambition” of the respective offers before the exchange.
On the sidelines of the EU-Latin America summit on 11 June, Malmström and the trade ministers from the Mercosur countries affirmed the commitment of the two blocs to concluding their free trade talks. These talks were launched in 1999, and relaunched in 2010 after being put on ice for six years. They agreed to move on to an exchange of offers on market access before the end of 2015. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)