The ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) will resume their discussions on Friday 12 May on the position to be adopted by the EU27 in view of the negotiation of the joint declaration that the European, Latin American and Caribbean countries will be invited to adopt at the EU/CELAC summit on 17 and 18 July (see EUROPE 13153/18).
On Wednesday 10 May, the ambassadors had a “frank” discussion on the issue, a diplomatic source said on Thursday 11 May. For this source, two issues still need to be explored further in order to reach a common language, namely the approach to the EU/Mercosur trade agreement and the reference to the Russian military aggression of Ukraine.
Two countries - “Austria and France” - maintain reservations about the trade agreement with Mercosur. The French delegation reportedly did not specify its reservations on Wednesday. But its position has not changed, with Paris demanding new guarantees on environmental protection and biodiversity from the Latin American side. The Austrian authorities remain bound by several binding resolutions of their national parliament since 2019, which prohibit them from endorsing the text as it was agreed in June 2019 (see EUROPE 12286/3, 12285/5). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)