Argentine Chancellor sees progress in Mercosur-EU agreement, despite “misunderstandings”

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina, Diana Mondino, stated on Friday that negotiations on the trade agreement between the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia) and the European Union (EU ) continue to advance, despite “misunderstandings” between Latin American and European agricultural policies. “The treaty is almost a ‘yes’, but it is still a ‘no’”, said the Argentine chancellor, laughing, at an event in Córdoba (central Argentina). “The point is that there are many of us who need to give up something so that the other person doesn’t feel bad,” she added.

Among the “misunderstandings” mentioned, the chancellor cited the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and acknowledged the concerns of “many European farmers who consider that this community regulatory instrument is in danger because of the agreement with Mercosur; is in danger because they also have a deficit,” added Mondino, who criticized what he called “myths” generated around the agreement. “Myths were generated, like the one about the Amazon, which are exaggerations,” he stated, referring to one of Europe’s main reservations regarding the signing of the agreement: the denunciation of deforestation in the Amazon.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently declared that the agreement negotiated in 2019 between the two blocs “is not good for anyone, it is obsolete and completely contradictory because it does not take biodiversity or climate into account”. On other occasions, however, the Frenchman was more explicit in saying that the text was harmful to the local agricultural sector, which is heavily subsidized and which has seen a series of protests not only in France, but across Europe.

Despite Macron’s statements, the European Commission insisted on its willingness to maintain its “constructive engagement with the aim of bringing the agreement to a successful conclusion as quickly as possible”. In the case of Mercosur members, Brazil and Uruguay emphasized their interest in reviving the agreement, although the Brazilians want to restrict or prevent competition from Europeans in government purchases, supposedly to benefit local industry. Paraguay – which temporarily presides over the South American bloc – showed distrust.