On Tuesday 27 February, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström confirmed that she could visit Asunción at "the end of the week", should there be a breakthrough in the series of technical level talks that have been taking place in the capital of Paraguay since 20 February to finalise a compromise on the trade section of an association agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
"We are making good progress as well, but there are issues that have not been solved yet. I hope that this week will bring issues forward and if it does I will join the negotiating team at the end of the week", Malmström said, at the end of the meeting of EU trade ministers in Sofia on Tuesday 27 February. She also said she was confident about the possibility of lifting the obstacles to be overcome on agriculture and in the area of cars and automobile components.
Malmström expressed caution about the timing, favouring substance over the timetable, but saying she thought they could "solve this during this first part of the year".
Earlier in the day, Germany's Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy Matthias Machnig said he hoped for the conclusion of an agreement at the end of March. "We were never so close in the 19 years, and if we are not going to take decision now then it will take another couple of years to start again and to finalise the negotiations", he warned.
Machnig also said he was fairly confident that Brazil would improve its proposal on the automobile issue. "I hope this will happen. It is about rules of origin and the phase out period. (A Brazilian minister) indicated there might be some flexibility", he added.
At this stage, Brazil would agree to grant a significant reduction in customs duties on exports of EU cars, on condition that they include a significant share of pieces manufactured in Mercosur (80%) but the EU would accept a maximum share of between 45 and 50%.
French Secretary of State for Foreign and European Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne meanwhile underlined the need for a "balanced agreement". "Mercosur must come with stronger proposals without automobiles, in the agricultural domain with protected geographical indications and the dairy sector. The reckoning is not yet known", he said, reaffirming "France's vigilance on sanitary and phytosanitary standards" for agricultural products.
"If it is possible to reach a correct agreement (in March), why not? But we still have a discussion on the automobile industry and we are not yet at the end of the road", Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders commented.
"Once again, we have a few concerns about the agricultural sector and first of all beef, and we must explain that we have a high level of quality and that we want to keep it for our consumers in Europe" he added. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)