Brussels, 30/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The EU and Mercosur will pursue the "dialogue" on the improved offers for liberalisation at the round of official negotiations in Brussels next week. On visits first to Brazil and then to Argentina, Commissioner Fischler repeated that the EU is prepared to make concessions on agriculture, but on the condition that there would be "give and take". "We are inclined to open the European market to more sensitive products such as beef and maize by reducing duties and opening up tarif quotas", he said in Buenos Aires. In return, the EU wants to gain in terms of services (banking, insurance, telecommunications), public procurement (regulations for access) and investment. In Brussels, the Commission has been reiterating this position since 15 April. Mercosur has put the ball back in the European court and is demanding that the asymmetry of the economies be taken into account: it is "logical" that the EU do so, but the final agreement must be balanced, said Franz Fischler.
According to a European observer, the greatest source of reticence seems to be the service sector and the left wing of "Lula" da Silva's Brazilian Labour Party, which is trying to defend an industrial policy bill. The Argentinian farming sector, on the other hand, is pushing for the agreement to be concluded.