Brussels, 16/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - The second round of negotiations between the European Union and Mercosur with a view to an association agreement including trade liberalisation, which took place this week in Brussels, was essentially devoted to setting working groups in place and exchanging information on the processes for the integration of two regional groups. "In some ways, during the first round in Buenos Aires in April, we climbed into the car. Now, we are consulting the instructions for use and checking the options out", was the ironical comment by Hervé Jouanjan, Director of External Relations at the Commission during a press conference. "After the laborious meeting in Buenos Aires, we set an ambitious timetable and we have every hope that the next round, in Brazil in November, will allow progress of 1,000 or 1,500 km to be made", said Argentinean Deputy Foreign Minister Horacio Chighizola, who headed the Mercosur delegation. The four Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay) do not have an executive body and delegate the conducting of negotiations to the presidency-in-office (Argentina at present, Brazil from July). "A distinction must be made between Mercosur, which is still an adolescent union, and the European Union, which has reached maturity", noted Horacio Chighizola. He recalled that the common market of the South American cone covers between 80% and 90% of the customs nomenclature (automobiles and sugar are above all still excluded).
In the commercial field, the EU presented reform of the common agricultural policy and the enlargement process. Mercosur was invited to take stock of its integration in the services and public procurement sectors in particular. The parties also: 1) exchanged a first list of questions on customs tariffs, preferential agreements with third countries, norms in force, etc. "We received about one hundred documents that have still to be analysed. Some, to begin with, are illegible because they are in incompatible electronic format", it is noted at the Commission; 2) defined the first specific objects for each negotiation sector. The EU pledges to respond before the next round; 3) identified non-tariff barriers to trade. The EU has already drawn up a first list of barriers that it would like to see abolished.
Negotiators agreed on a timetable for preparing the round in November in Brasilia. The parties should present: 1) by 30 June: lists of experts in order to facilitate information exchange; 2) by 31 July: requests for information identified during this round; 3) by 31 July: first analyses and proposals for further action on questions raised so far; 4) by 30 September: a list of new requests concerning the specific aims of negotiation.
Regarding political dialogue, the parties agreed to exchange draft texts during the next negotiation session. Mercosur proposed an ad hoc meeting of experts to examine the future of dialogue and insisted on the creation of a group of senior officials to examine the proposals that it presented during the ministerial meeting in Vilamoura in February.
As far as cooperation is concerned, the aim is to modernise and develop the chapters of the cooperation framework agreement dating from 1995. Financial and technical cooperation would be mainly focused on the internal integration process at Mercosur and between Mercosur and other Latin American countries. It would cover three sectors: I) modernisation of the public administration; 2) institutional cooperation with the administrative secretariat of Mercosur, the joint parliamentary committee and economic and social forum; 3) regional cooperation to promote the trade and investment in the region, develop cooperation in the environment sector, encourage the construction of communication infrastructure and encourage cooperation concerning land planning.