Visiting Mexico on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 February, European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness underlined the need for "strong political resolve" to bring the negotiations on the update of the EU-Mexico global agreement of 2000 to a successful conclusion.
"Strong political resolve is needed to overcome the hardest part of the talks" that were launched in May 2016 and are now in their final phase, Katainen said in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE, following meetings on Friday with members of the cabinet of Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto. The Commission has "much more experience in these situations", Katainen said, asking the Mexican negotiators "to do their utmost".
The EU and Mexico are involved in a race against time to reach a political agreement before the campaign begins for the Mexican general elections on 1 July.
February will be decisive. On the technical level, the Commission negotiators will host their Mexican counterparts the week of 5 February, before going to Mexico on 12 February.
During his tour of Mexico, Katainen reviewed, with Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, the main points of the negotiation that remain to be resolved.
Both parties agreed on the "importance" of concluding the negotiations "in the coming weeks" and said they were "optimistic" as to the progress that can be achieved in the next session of the technical level negotiation.
As regards market access, the discussions are stumbling on the agricultural section, which is very sensitive for the EU, especially on the issue of dairy products and on the opening of Mexican public procurement.
Other "central issues" such as financial services, the temporary movement of workers, intellectual protection (including the protection of geographical indications – GI – for which the negotiations are "complex") and the protection of data remain "open", the European chief negotiator, Helena König, stated on 23 January (see EUROPE 11945).
The Europeans and Mexicans also need to come to an agreement on the chapter on investment protection, including a mechanism for settling disputes between investors and states based on Europe's proposal of an Investment Court System (ICS) that is included in the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA) – a system aimed at replacing private arbitration courts of the ISDS type. According to König, Mexico has recently agreed to work on the basis of ICS model.
Anti-corruption clause. On Friday, Katainen underlined the role of the anti-corruption clause provided for in the revised EU-Mexico global agreement to strengthen bilateral trade.
"This is the first time that the EU is including such a clause in its free trade agreements. It will help improve trade and cooperation", Katainen said in an interview with EFE. "It is Mexican business people themselves who have asked for the inclusion of this clause, which will offer the country greater legal security and greater credibility – which in turn will favour investment and trade", he said.
This clause is aimed at reducing cases of corruption among Mexican political leaders (one of the country's main scourges, along with violence) as this hamper greater economic development.
The introduction of a similar clause has already been agreed as part of the negotiations for the update of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)