The second round of talks (since May 2016) for a Mercosur-EU free-trade agreement took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 20-25 March, leading to "significant progress" in the text for the three sections of the future association agreement between the two regions (trade, political dialogue and cooperation), according to a joint press release published on Monday 27 March.
Both sides decided "to advance this negotiation with a view to concluding it as soon as possible. Consensus among negotiators exists regarding the fact that this agreement should be comprehensive, balanced and mutually beneficial", explains the joint press release, noting that "significant progress was made in all the texts" on the various chapters of negotiation.
On the chapter on cooperation, the EU and Mercosur reaffirmed their commitment to sustained and qualified bi-regional cooperation in areas such as the promotion of democracy and human rights, the fight against poverty and drug trafficking, scientific research and sustainable development.
Negotiators for the trade part discussed texts on every area, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade facilitation, services, intellectual property rights, public procurement and trade and sustainable development.
Last week, negotiation teams achieved the objective of having a common negotiating text in every group, which was one of the main goals set by the chief negotiators in February. The two sides have already agreed on the text of the chapter on competition policy.
Welcoming a climate of "constructive and positive dialogue", the parties agreed to meet in Brussels in July and an inter-sessional meeting on trade aspects will be held in Buenos Aires at the end of May.
This was the second round of talks for a EU-Mercosur association agreement since the mutual exchange of offers on market access (covering goods, services and public procurement) in May 2016 (see EUROPE 11549), and the 27th round of talks since 1999.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström reported on Thursday 23 March on a lot of progress in the EU-Mercosur talks, stating that the preliminary objective was to reach political agreement by the end of the year (see EUROPE 11752). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)