Argentina's President Mauricio Macri was due to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday evening 26 January, where Macron was expected to tell him of the "red lines" that France does not want overstepped as part of a possible trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur – particularly in the beef sector (see EUROPE 11946). A joint statement from the two heads of state was expected at the end of their meeting.
Mercosur wants the EU to provide bigger import tariff quotas for sensitive agricultural products than those proposed in the last revised offer at the beginning of December (70,000 tonnes of beef, 600,000 tonnes of ethanol, 100,000 tonnes of sugar for refining and 2,000 tonnes of other sugars, 90,000 tonnes of poultry). However, Macron does not want to go beyond the 70,000 tonnes of beef already on the negotiating table. An agreement with Mercosur "can be good if our red lines are followed", he said on the sidelines of his New Year wishes to the agricultural sector on 25 January.
In a letter sent to the European commissioners for agriculture and trade on 24 January, as well as to European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, the EU agricultural organisations and cooperatives (Copa-Cogeca) call for "the market access (offered to Mercosur) to be minimised" – "more specifically for beef, sugar, poultry, ethanol, rice and orange juice". Copa-Cogeca is also calling for the "single pocket approach" to be maintained – in other words, taking account of concessions resulting from other international trade negotiations. "Given the great uncertainty linked to the ongoing Brexit negotiations, to the discussions to come on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and to the pressure on the Union budget, we would reject any concession at this stage", Copa-Cogeca states.
European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan met Brazil's Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi on 22 January, while European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström is due to meet the south American bloc's (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) foreign affairs ministers in Brussels on 30 January. If progress is deemed sufficient, a new high-level meeting between the EU and Mercosur will take place in Asunción (Paraguay) on 18-19 February to try and conclude the negotiations at political level. (Original version in French)