According to a Mexican source, the negotiators of the European Commission and Mexican government have been involved since 12 February on a ninth round of technical-level talks on the trade section of the updated EU-Mexico global agreement – which is supposed to be completed by 22 February.
Depending on the level of maturity of the discussions, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan could go to Mexico next week to complete a final compromise with Mexico's Minister for the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal.
The EU and Mexico are involved in a race against time to seal a compromise before the campaign begins on 1 March for the Mexican general elections on 1 July.
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.
As regards agriculture, the EU wants to obtain the opening of the Mexican market for its dairy products, in exchange for which it would concede an annual import quota for beef to Mexico of between 11,000 and 15,000 tonnes, according to one source.
The protection of EU geographical indications still continues to be a delicate issue, especially the denomination of Manchengo cheese, a product under this denomination both in Spain and Mexico.
In addition, the parties need to come to an agreement on investment protection, including a mechanism for settling disputes between investors and states based on the EU proposal for the Investment Court System (ICS), which is aimed at replacing ISDS-type private arbitration courts. Mexico has recently agreed to work on this basis. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)