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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday renewed his calls for an EU-South America trade deal to “finally” be sealed after years of negotiations, despite opposition from France.
“We have to finally get the Mercosur free trade agreement done now after more than 20 years,” Scholz said on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“The way it was negotiated took far too long and it is not a good example… We need more free trade agreements. The world is changing.”
The European Union and the four founding members of Mercosur — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay — have been working to make a trade pact between their blocs a reality for quarter of a century.
Although the contours of a deal were agreed in 2019, some EU countries have blocked it going any further.
But Germany strongly supports the deal and, along with Spain, has been pressing to rapidly conclude the agreement.
France is fiercely opposed however, and President Emmanuel Macron said at the weekend he did not believe the EU could wrap up the pact without French buy-in.
The country’s farmers fear they will be undercut by what they view as unfair South American competition.
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Publish date : 2024-11-18 05:44:00
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