At the start of his trip to Latin America, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urgently called for the stalled negotiations on the free trade agreement between the EU and the South American federation Mercosur to be resumed. “The negotiations lasted long enough,” Scholz said on Saturday (local time) after a meeting with Argentine President Alberto Ángel Fernández in Buenos Aires.
“That is why it is important that everyone in a constructive spirit contribute now so that we can join hands and find a way to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion soon,” the German Chancellor said of the agreement that has been reached so far. also strictly rejected by Austria.
Open forest protection
The EU has been negotiating a trade agreement with Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) since 1999. Although a breakthrough was achieved in 2019, there are still unanswered questions, especially when it comes to protecting the Amazon rainforest. The deal would create a market of more than 700 million people, covering nearly 20% of the global economy and 31% of global goods exports.
Fight the bipolar world
Scholz was optimistic that an agreement could be reached. “I discovered good spirit and goodwill here,” he said. Fernandez said he agreed with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: “We want to push this agreement and make it work. It would benefit Latin America and especially Mercosur, it would benefit Europe and it would also strengthen multilateralism in a world that is about to become bipolar again.” Fernandez pointed out that there are still obstacles: “But our desire is that we reach an agreement soon and make the deal work.”
There have also recently been differences of opinion between Mercosur countries. Argentina’s left-wing government wants to protect its domestic economy from international competition, while the right-wing governments of Uruguay and Brazil want to remove trade barriers before the change of government at the turn of the year.