Brussels, 27/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) presented, on Saturday, a new offer of liberalisation in the context of the EU/Mercosur free trade and association agreement negotiations. The offer covers 90% of trade compared to 88% in the previous offer, a press release from the Brazilian Ministry which holds Mercosur presidency states. It mainly covers public procurement, financial services and telecommunications.
"The Commission has received the offer and we are looking at it closely. It is a good point of departure for negotiations. We shall speak about it today with the Member States", Arancha Gonzalez, the spokesperson for Trade Commissioner Pascal lamy, said on Monday. The EU, for its part, is expected to propose an improved offer this week. Mercosur is reckoning on more advantageous quotas for poultry and beef meat.