This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Omar Paganini, after the meeting with his counterparts from Mercosur at the 65th Ordinary Meeting of the Common Market Council, in Montevideo.
Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) reached an agreement on Thursday to close the free trade agreement with the European Union, pending the final confirmation of the text by the presidents of the four countries.
This was stated on Thursday by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Omar Paganini, after the meeting with his counterparts from Mercosur at the 65th Ordinary Meeting of the Common Market Council, which is being held from this Thursday until tomorrow, Friday, in Montevideo (Uruguay).
According to him, an agreement was reached after negotiating directly with the European Union Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, who travelled to Montevideo with the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen.
According to Paganini, Von der Leyen's presence shows "the success of the negotiations" and Brussels' support for the final stage that will take place this coming Friday.
While awaiting the meeting between the four presidents of the Mercosur partner countries, it turns out that all four have spoken in favour, including the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, whose position on trade matters differs from that of the rest.
The signing of the agreement will not take place this Friday, because certain formal processes and translations are required, but once the four leaders meet, more details of the agreement will be known.
However, Paganini explained that the points of conflict that remained pending in 2019 and are now closed have been included in the negotiations. "All the issues are included," he said at the end of the first day of the summit.
POSITION OF FRANCE
French President Emmanuel Macron told European Commission chief Ursula Von der Leyen on Thursday that a potential trade deal between the EU and Mercosur is "unacceptable" in its current state, just hours before the start of a key summit in Montevideo.
"We will continue to tirelessly defend our agricultural sovereignty," stressed the Elysée, which revealed the call between Macron and Von der Leyen once the latter's arrival in the Uruguayan capital was confirmed.
However, Mercosur has responded that the approval mechanisms prevent France from blocking this agreement from a formal point of view.
