The EU-Brazil Summit will finally take place in Brussels on 24 February. This Summit is coming at the end of the MERCOSUR technical committee meeting which took place on 12 & 13 February in Caracas. The aim was to make compatible the different proposals from MERCOSUR members (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), and elaborate a definitive concrete presentation to discuss with the EU for a free trade agreement.
Some reports suggest that Uruguay and Brazil could be prepared to go ahead with “two speed” trade negotiations between MERCOSUR and the European Union if other countries are not prepared for ambitious tariff offers. Could this be an option to move ahead, knowing there is no concrete proposals for when the meeting and exchange of proposals with the EU will take place?
MERCOSUR countries represent a significant export potential for the European spirits sector with an increase of 32% between 2000 and 2012, and currently almost €360 million exports with the biggest shares to Venezuela (38%) and Brazil (36%). The size of these markets and the growing demand for quality European products require an ambitious trade agreement to solve a range of longstanding market access issues. spiritsEUROPE priority issues are the elimination of tariffs, intellectual property rights protection, including recognition of European Geographic Indications as well as alignment of spirits definition.
