On Wednesday 11 October, France's President Emmanuel Macron stated that he would like to update the negotiation mandate granted by the EU Council to the European Commission for the free trade talks with Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
"I'm not in favour of our hurrying to negotiate an agreement with a negotiation mandate given in 1999", Macron said, adding that he intended to bring the subject up at the European Council on 19-20 October.
"I know the anxiety that CETA (Ed: the free trade agreement between the EU and Canada) and Mercosur can feed in the population, with certain associations and with certain producers", he said, aware that "these trade agreements raise heavy stakes, both for consumer protection and for producer protection".
A fourth round of talks (since the relaunch of the EU-Mercosur trade negotiations in 2010) was held in Brasilia at the beginning of October. Despite the revised offers on market access, which were deemed insufficient by both parties, the EU and Mercosur remain committed to trying to conclude an agreement in principle by the end of 2017 (see EUROPE 11880). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)