EU & MERCOSUR still...

EU & MERCOSUR: Still shuffling cards

Mauricio López Dardaine

From the:

XXV MERCOSUR - EUROPEAN UNION

BIRREGIONAL NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE

October 22 to 26 2012, Brasília

FINAL CONCLUSIONS[1]

“In the framework of the XXV Bi-regional Negotiations Committee, delegates from the European Union and MERCOSUR met in Brasília from 22 to 26 October 2012 for a round of negotiations on the future Association Agreement between MERCOSUR and the European Union (EU).

“Negotiations were held in the Political, Trade and Cooperation Pillars of the future Agreement. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to move negotiations forward to reach a comprehensive, balanced and ambitious Association Agreement ...”

“…Working Groups met and continued their work, clarifying positions and presenting new proposals. Progress continued to be registered in several Working Groups, in particular, Services and Investments, Customs, Trade Facilitation and related matters, and Government Procurement. A general discussion on Trade in Goods related issues and Trade Defense Instruments were included at Chief Negotiators' level with both sides clarifying positions and expectations.

On the basis of the most recent submission from the EU, a constructive discussion on Sustainable Development was held at Chief Negotiators’ level, leading to a greater understanding of respective positions. The EU side committed to provide further details to its proposal.”

“Chief Negotiators took the opportunity of the XXV BNC to reaffirm their commitment to an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced Agreement. They also had an in-depth discussion on the state of play and the next steps of the negotiating process. They noted that while progress had been made on the normative framework thus far, there is not enough scope for further progress under the current approach. …”

And here we come to the crux of the matter, to a key step that has been delayed over and over again:

“… In this respect the EU underlined that it was now necessary to move to the exchange of market access offers on goods, services and investment, and government procurement. MERCOSUR considered that the negotiation had reached a point where it was necessary to seek guidance at ministerial level. Both sides concurred that the MERCOSUR-European Union Ministerial Meeting, to be held in parallel with the CELAC-EU Summit in Santiago, Chile, in January 2013 could provide such an opportunity… “

Will the EU give way as far as their agricultural markets are concerned? If the answer is no, it would be hard to think Mercosur would in turn be prepared to capitulate regarding tariffs related to their industrial sectors. Eight years ago they both came as close as they have come since the Framework Agreement was signed in Madrid in late 1995. This game of hide and seek has been going on for such a long time, one feels it may be time to unsaddle until the sun rises, as the saying they cherish in our Pampas goes. The crisis shaking the EU today does not offer the ideal scenario to negotiate agricultural concessions; quite the opposite. Mercosur, on the other hand, is not without internal problems. The economic crisis is felt here too. So, seeking guidance at ministerial level and using the January 2013 Santiago meeting to provide such an opportunity, will not necessarily lead to immediate progress regarding market access. I personally feel a realistic, improved approach to this negotiation taking place across the Atlantic, especially as far as MARKET ACCESS is concerned, would certainly put the goal of a future agreement again within reach. However, if the EU and Mercosur insist in having recourse to worn-out formulae, we can only expect more of the same.

*     *     *

---

[1] We would like to thank the Chamber of Exporters in Argentina for their forwarding the respective documents.