Negotiations with Europe: under what conditions could the Mercosur-EU agreement be closed?

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, went to Brussels this Thursday to discuss Mercosur with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. This meeting takes place in a context of strong peasant demonstrations. The French believe that unfair competition exists in Europe, which would worsen if free trade were allowed with Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and soon with Bolivia. However, The deal is still under negotiation and this situation could lead leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to do so reconsider your requestsbeyond agricultural and environmental issues.

In recent months, Mercosur has made progress, but it has also taken more steps backwards due to environmental regulations requested by Europe. With demonstrations by farmers opposing this trade agreement, the issue resurfaces in European public opinion.

Much more than a simple agricultural agreement

But if you want to talk seriously about Mercosur, the economist Antoine Bouëtof the University of Bordeaux, believes so This treaty cannot be reduced exclusively to agricultural products: “We cannot separate the agricultural part from other sectors. We cannot impose on South Americans an agreement that opens up their technology sector, especially one that benefits the import of technology from Europe, and we do not grant them anything in agricultural matters”.

“This treaty also includes mineral resources. Let’s think, for example, of Argentina, which has it a lot of lithium, in Bolivia, which is in the entry phase and we remember that lithium is essential for the production of batteries and electric vehicles. A free trade agreement is above all an exchange of concessions“, Add.

Agriculture vs technology

“From our South American vision we have the opposite situation,” he comments for his part. Oscar Guillén, doctoral candidate at the Southern Economic and Social Research Institute, National University of the South, Argentina.

He agrees with the economist Antoine Bouët, and specifies the technological issues: “What for the European case represents agriculture in terms of competitiveness and competition, for us, the opposite, would represent all technological development. We need to go beyond what is being discussed and Concessions must be made that serve both sides”.

“We must sell, at Mercosur level, the products for which we essentially enjoy comparative advantages, which are all agricultural products, and we must also bring everything that is not produced here in terms of media and high technology,” he analyzes.

“Absolute win-win situation”

While France pays attention to agricultural issues, Germany is interested in the pharmaceutical, automotive and aviation industries. For its part, Uruguay, a country whose agricultural production represents the majority of its exports, is calling for the elimination of obstacles to European trade.

“Just as the European Union has demands, Latin America and, in the case of Mercosur, also have demands. AS The pact closes when we find ourselves in a situation of beneficial for everyone (everyone wins), which is obviously what the parties want,” concludes Oscar Guillén.

The Mercosur trade agreement it could integrate 800 million inhabitants.

Long-standing negotiations

Negotiations between Mercosur (Southern Common Market) and the European Union (EU) They started in 1999, when a framework cooperation agreement was signed between both organizations.

However, formal negotiations for a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU began in 2000. Since then, there have been several rounds of negotiations and several partial agreements have been reached, but a final agreement has not yet been reached.