The head of the European Union (EU), Portugal, said on Thursday (07.01.2021) that he would try to conclude a free trade agreement between the European Union and the South American bloc Mercosur that was agreed in 2019 after two decades of talks, but has not yet been finalized.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva announced that his country, which assumed the rotating six-month EU presidency on January 1, needed to move forward because failure would damage the reputation of the EU, the world's largest trading bloc.
“Our credibility is at stake. It is Portugal's responsibility to try to conclude this process. and we assume this obligation,” Santos Silva said in an online briefing.
In a major step against protectionism around the world, the EU agreed in June 2019 to create a 700 million-person free trade area with the South American trading bloc Mercosur, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay.
But France and the European Parliament have since led opposition to finalising the details of the treaty, saying Mercosur must do more to meet its climate commitments under the Paris Agreement and that Brazil is failing to combat deforestation in the Amazon.
Silva commented that "we are about to conclude" the agreement with Mexico and that "we are in a very interesting phase in relation to the modernization of our agreement with Chile".
Santos Silva also assured that "important work must be carried out to implement" the trade agreement with the United Kingdom, reached between Brussels and London on Christmas Eve and provisionally entered into force on 1 January, pending ratification by the European Parliament, expected to take place in its March plenary session.
According to the minister, “the most important work” that remains pending regarding Brexit is the “preparation” of a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Kingdom regarding financial services.
Source: EFE
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