The timing for the rest of the negotiations on the trade section of an Association Agreement between the EU and the Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) remains "uncertain", and it is "unlikely that a deal will be concluded in the coming months", the European chief negotiator on the technical level, Sandra Gallina, told the European Parliament's international trade committee on Wednesday 16 May.
"A few issues remain outstanding" after the last full round of talks in February, especially geographical indications and liberalisation of the automobile trade, Gallina stated, adding that the file on cars was the "most problematic".
The EU is struggling to obtain concessions from Mercosur on access to the automobile market for several reasons, Gallina explained. These include Mercosur's lack of unified approach on the rules of origin, a liberalisation timetable that is not satisfactory for the Europeans, and the fact that the EU wants a specific approach on cars as part of the treatment of technical barriers to trade, as well as an annex.
At the beginning of May, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström gave assurances that they still believed in an agreement "by the end of 2018" despite the general elections in Brazil in October. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)