Brussels, 07/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - Reliable sources have indicated that during his Latin American tour, which finished at the beginning of the week (see EUROPE yesterday page 10), Commissioner Pascal Lamy invited Mercosur countries to take the political decision of taking their relationship with the Union much further than just the opening up of markets (which is currently being negotiated). "We have to decide upon the level of our future relationship", he replied when addressing Argentinean and Brazilian policy makers.
In Chile, where Brussels is involved in the political initiative of helping it join the South American common market, (it is in fact more advanced in opening up its markets than Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), Mr Lamy gave the go-ahead for the last line of bilateral negotiations on a free trade zone. The stated objective is to reach a political agreement by mid-May at the EU/Latin America/Caribbean Summit but worries are beginning to be raised by the Europeans with regard to the particularly strong dissension over regional wine and sprits labelling.
In Buenos Aires, Mr Lamy had to weigh up the dramatic situation in Argentina, and held high-level discussions on the support Europe could bring, particularly with regard to their inability to act together with the IMF, whose role is potentially decisive if the country is to find stability again. "We are not speaking with one voice and that is being felt", as one commentary put it in Brussels. European sources do not exclude the possibility of the Argentinean situation getting worse despite the relative calm of recent weeks. The European Commission will attempt to inform the Council over the next few weeks (probably at ECOFIN) about the dangers and the need to have a coherent European position at the IMF.