A new negotiation session between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) will take place in Montevideo on 10-14 September to discuss the search for an agreement on the trade section of an association agreement between the two blocs (see EUROPE 12067, 12068).
Brazil hopes for greater commitment from the European Union in order to bring progress to the negotiations for an agreement with Mercosur, Brazil's Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes told French news agency AFP at the end of August. He believed the EU offer on import quotas of 99,000 tonnes for beef and 150,000 tonnes for sugar from Mercosur was "quite limited" and called for no tax to be applied for these products.
During their last discussions, the Europeans and South Americans also showed divergences on the liberalisation of the automobile sector.
At a standstill between 2005 and 2010, these negotiations (which were launched in 1999) have since been resumed. They have recently been stepped up due to the protectionist policy of US President Donald Trump. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)