Spain calls for an end to the “paralysis” of agreements with Chile, Mexico or Mercosur

EU trade

Brussels, 11 November (EFE). Spain today urged the European Union to end the “paralysis” caused by the ratification of free trade agreements reached with Mexico or Mercosur, or negotiations with Chile.

“We are concerned that the trade negotiations, which have concluded so successfully after many years of work, will then remain in a state of stalemate and paralysis,” Spain’s Minister of State for Trade, Ziana Mendez, said in a statement. Pressure upon reaching the Community Cabinet in the field.

In his opinion, the EU “loses credibility” when it not only fulfills commitments reached with important trading partners such as Chile, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia, but also Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), the bloc with which the EU closed the “most important agreements in terms of economic impact.” Positive for both blocks” which has not yet been ratified to enter into force.

For Mendes, “energy and many resources are invested in these negotiations, which also show through studies of their impact that they are positive in all respects” and that they can be “even a solution to any environmental problem that arises.”

“We believe we are losing credibility as a trading partner and preventing our companies from enjoying new opportunities in new markets and expanding that shared prosperity, which we in Spain are convinced comes through free trade based on transparent and fair rules,” he said. .

Regarding the agreement being negotiated with Chile, he stressed that it includes an “innovative” chapter on gender, while in the case of the renewed association agreement with Mexico, whose ratification has also been suspended, there is a “very important” chapter on it. Anti-corruption, and in Mercosur, another fight against sustainable development.

They are models or examples of next-generation agreements that should be the reference in future negotiations. We are very concerned that at some point, treatment will not continue. For our part, these negotiations have all the support for their approval and implementation.”

On the other hand, the French Minister of Foreign Trade, Franck Riester, explained that France “supports progress in the negotiations of free trade agreements”, which are “good for our economies”, but at the same time in negotiations “more demanding than we were in sustainable development”.

France, in particular, was accused of obstructing the implementation of the above-mentioned agreements before the presidential elections that the country will hold next spring.

“We must demand that these trade agreements be a lever for other concerns that are not only commercial, such as sustainable development,” he stressed, adding that “special attention” must be given to the increase in the price of meat or chicken. And to be “particularly vigilant” with “difficulties in sensitive agricultural sectors.”

“Trade must not be done at the expense of forests or biodiversity,” Riester stressed, putting the “essence” of agreements before the “speed of them.”

For his part, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission in charge of trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, affirmed that they are “working hard to advance our trade negotiations, especially with Chile. He concluded by saying that it is clear that this work is important on the part of the European Union and there is support from France, especially through the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2022.