The Government seeks to accelerate the signing of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur. This Friday there is a coordination meeting and at the end of the month a meeting of the South American bloc that could be key. According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Argentina would be willing to give up its claims to compensate for the new market access conditions imposed by Brussels through the Green Deal and seal the agreement under the same terms that had been agreed during 2019.
A former Macri official is leading the negotiation and they point to a summit to be held in Geneva during February for the symbolic signature.
President Javier Milei intends to give an ultra-open seal to his administration. Since the beginning of the mandate, the Ministry of Commerce made progress in the dismantling a series of barriers to imports that had been in place for years. At the same time, from the wallet you drive Diana Mondino They seek to accelerate agreements with other economic blocks to free the entry and exit of products without, or with very low, tariffs.
In this regard, the priority at this time is the negotiation of the European Union-Mercosur pact. As far as he could know Ambit From sources participating in the discussion, the Foreign Ministry issued a clear order that comes from the Executive: remove all the claims that Argentina had been making under the previous administration to balance the agreement and accept the terms of 2019.
Not coincidentally, the official in charge of the negotiation is the same one who occupied the embassy in the EU at that time: the now Secretary of International Economic Relations Marcelo Cima. What objective does the Government have? Close the text before the end of the month at a summit to be held in Asunción. Then, on the calendar, they point to February as another key date because there is an appointment of the World Trade Organization in Geneva where what diplomats call “the symbolic signature” could be carried out.
What the European Green Deal is about and what are the claims that Argentina will abandon
Following the new European Green Deal, which places tough environmental barriers to the entry of local products and modifies what was agreed in 2019, Alberto Fernández’s administration had been requesting a series of points to rebalance the conditions. Among them, the arrival of financing for the transition, the inclusion of a special chapter for the development of electromobility in the country and greater openness so that certifications can be granted at the local level.
Despite the recurring promises of the European bloc, Brussels has so far not responded to any of these demands. For this reason, at the end of last year, when both the High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, Josep Borrell, as the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, They had everything ready to come to South America to sign the agreement, they had to back down because former Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said that under those conditions Argentina was not going to sign.
Source: Ambito
