23/05/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 22 May, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström announced that the talks on the trade section of an association agreement between the EU and the Mercosur bloc (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay) "continue very intensively" and that a technical level negotiation session is planned for the week of 4 June. "There are some difficult issues still to solve but we are working on it", she said. Malmström told the European trade ministers that the political commitment of the Mercosur countries "remained strong" but that their main difficulty was coordinating their positions. Key issues still to be settled are the liberalisation of automobile trade and the rules of origin (see EUROPE 12022), market access for dairy products, the protection of geographical indications, access to maritime services and account being taken of agricultural sensitivities (see EUROPE 12011). (EH)