Brussels, 31/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 30 May, the European Parliament rapporteur on trade with Mexico, Sorin Moisa (S&D, Romania), welcomed the official launch of negotiations the same day by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Mexico's Secretary of State for the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villareal. The negotiations will start in mid-June in order to modernise the free trade agreement between the EU and Mexico that dates back to 2000 (see EUROPE 11561).
“Upgrading the trade dimension of the EU-Mexico global agreement will complete (…) the string of North American trade pacts that Europe needs in order to boost its long-term international competitiveness and secure its social model for the future”, Moisa stated.
“The result of the negotiations should be ambitious and cover a broad range of issues, such as market access, regulatory coherence, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade facilitation, SMEs, geographical indications and public procurement. It must also include strong provisions on sustainable development, notably on environment and labour, and effective provisions to fight corruption”, he added.
Moisa also calls for investment disputes to be settled by following the model in the free trade agreements with Canada (the CETA) and Vietnam - the new Investment Court System (ICS) for protecting investments. “The right of governments to regulate in the public interest should be unequivocally secured”, Moisa said.
On behalf of the ECR Group, Emma McClarkin from the UK also hailed the announcement of the upcoming start of negotiations to update to the EU-Mexico trade agreement. She called on the European Commission to be “as ambitious” as it had been in its negotiations with Canada and the USA - especially for ensuring increased market access for SMEs. In addition, McClarkin calls for a “strong” chapter on sustainable development issues to be included in the revised agreement. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)