The Paraguayan president, Santiago Penasaid on Monday that it will interrupt negotiations between the Mercosur and the European Union If the parties do not reach an agreement before December 6, when Brazil hands over the presidency of the South American bloc to his country.
Peña has criticized the progress of the talks since before taking office as president. The president said that the European Union demonstrated with his proposals that he has no clear interest in moving forward.
After returning from his first official trip to the United States in which he participated in the United Nations Assembly, the president assured that he conveyed to his colleague from Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom he had a bilateral meeting, his intention to seek other agreements.
“I have said and transmitted this to President Lula (da Silva) to close the negotiation because if he does not close I will not continue in the next semester.”Peña said at a press conference.
“I am going to dedicate the next semester to closing agreements with other regions of the world that I am sure we will reach an agreement very quickly (…) the case of Singapore and the United Arab Emirates”he added.
Lula has said he hoped to conclude talks on the deal, which have been on hold since 2019 due largely to European environmental concerns, this year.
In mid-September, Mercosur presented a counterproposal to an environmental addendum presented by the European Union, which Peña described as “unacceptable” considering that it limits the development capacity of countries like yours.
“Paraguay has a very strong vocation for integration (…) but in this trade agreement it is no longer a technical discussion, it is a political decision and this is no longer on the side of Mercosur but on the side of the European Union”assured Peña.
On Monday, Lula stated that Vietnam expressed its interest in reaching a trade agreement with Mercosur, also made up of Argentina and Uruguay, and that it would present the issue for discussion by the South American partners.
Source: Reuters
Source: Gestion
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