06/07/2023 (Agence Europe) – There is now hardly any question of closing the discussions on the EU/Mercosur agreement between the two parties at the EU/CELAC summit in Brussels on 17 and 18 July, but for the Spanish ambassador to France, Victorio Redondo Baldrich, “we must at least come out of the summit with a roadmap, with a mandate to negotiate a few stages during our presidency or the next one”. He is referring to the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, which hopes to make progress on the agreement. “In any case, Spain intends to give definitive impetus to this issue”, he declared at a hearing in the French Senate on Thursday 6 July. On Wednesday 5 July, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva confirmed that he would be attending the Brussels summit. (LM)