Mercosur-EU agreement still presents problems to be resolved, says German minister
Image of the signing of the Mercosur-EU agreement
Reproduction/YouTube
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stated this Wednesday (1st) that there are still problems to be resolved before the ratification of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, although he is confident that they can be overcome.
Wadephul's statements were made the day after the Mercosur summit in Paraguay, where member countries discussed the distribution of export quotas from the recent agreement with the EU -- a meeting in which the German minister participated as part of a several-day trip to South America.
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The regional bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed a trade agreement with the EU in January after 25 years of negotiations, which came into force provisionally four months later.
"The implementation (of the agreement) will still take a while. There will certainly be some problems, but problems that can be resolved," said Wadephul at a press conference alongside Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno in Buenos Aires.
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"The decisive steps have already been taken. We want this agreement and we will be able to resolve the problems that arise", he added, without giving details about what these obstacles are.
The agreement between Mercosur and the EU establishes a free trade zone that provides for the reduction and progressive elimination of customs tariffs, generating immediate benefits for a wide range of products that will be exempt from taxes, while others will follow a schedule of gradual reduction in tariffs.
Trade between the two blocs, which covers a market of 700 million people, reaching a value of 111 billion euros in 2024.
During the meeting in Buenos Aires, Wadephul and Quirno also announced a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals to expand the supply chain, amid a growing demand for minerals such as lithium and copper due to the energy transition.
Wadephul said that Quirno gave him a River Plate football shirt as a gift, his favorite team in Argentina, whose stadium they would visit after the press conference.
Source: G1