The negotiators of the agreement between Mercosur and the EU will meet again in May
The negotiators of the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) agreed to meet again in May after another round of talks ended this Friday in Buenos Aires.
According to informed this Saturday official sources, the discussions that took place this week in the Argentine capital were "constructive" and allowed "progresses at the level of the chief negotiators and the groups that were called."
According to the Argentine Foreign Ministry, this "demonstrates the commitment of the parties to reach an agreement", under negotiation almost twenty years ago.
The round of negotiations in Buenos Aires included meetings with representatives of the private sector and civil society of both blocs and with parliamentarians from Argentina, a country that this semester presides over the South American bloc, also composed of Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
"The parties will meet again during the month of May to seek consensus on the issues that remained pending," the Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement.
The intention to seek a free trade agreement was embodied in a framework cooperation agreement signed in 1995 and entered into force in 1999, but formally the technical negotiations began in Buenos Aires in April 2000.
Since then, more than thirty rounds of negotiation have been held, a complex process, even with impasses for many years.
Last Tuesday, the Argentine Foreign Minister, Jorge Faurie, affirmed that the talks are progressing "positively", although he maintained that both parties will "have to give a little to allow the agreement".
Speaking to the press, Faurie said that for the dialogue to continue on the right track, "efforts from all parties are required".
The European Commission said last January that it is committed to achieving an "ambitious, broad and balanced" agreement and "will spare no effort", but warned that the negotiation will be concluded "when the conditions are right" for it.
