Cafiero called on the European Union that the revised agreement be “adapted to a changing world”

Within the framework of the official visit of Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero to the European Union (EU) in Brussels, where he held meetings with the Vice-President of the European Commission (EC) and High Representative of the EU for External Affairs, Josep Borrell, together with the Executive Vice-President of the EC and Commissioner for EU Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, and the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen; The Argentine official said that the Mercosur-EU agreement must contemplate the asymmetries between the two blocs and the consequences derived from the new autonomous community regulations motivated by environmental requirements. Cafiero analyzed with European officials the status of the negotiation of the Association Agreement between the blocs and the pending issues, in the condition of the Pro Tempore Presidency of Mercosur that Argentina exercises from last December until the second half of 2023 that will pass to Brazil. Cecilia Todesca Bocco, together with whom they reiterated to their EU counterparts the Argentine commitment to continue working together, but highlighted that the main obstacles to the progress of the negotiations were raised by the EU, in particular through greater environmental requirements (Green Deal) that threaten to affect the exports of the Mercosur countries. We want a revised agreement with the European Union, adapted to a world and value chains in transformation,” Cafiero said in the negotiation of the agreements reached in 2019 that were modified with greater demands in environmental matters, which harmed the region. In particular, Cafiero transmitted as a concrete example of the damage of these measures for Mercosur, the upcoming entry into force of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) that proposes to modify the threshold of Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) affecting Argentine exports of soybean biodiesel, which in 2022 represented sales of more than US $ 1,800 million, This type of measures, adopted unilaterally by the EU, affect the balance of concessions obtained and granted by both blocks in 2019 that, in this new context, is obsolete and demands a review, said Foreign Ministry.Cafiero stressed that it cannot be ignored that it is an agreement between two blocks with marked economic and social asymmetries that could be accentuated if it does not become a development. Balanced, which is why he expressed the need to find mechanisms for cooperation, investment, technology transfer and financing that recover the lost balance. Earlier, Cafiero held a meeting at the Egmont Palace, ceremonial headquarters of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Middle Classes, Self-employed, SMEs and Agriculture, Institutional Reforms and Democratic Renewal of the Kingdom of Belgium, David Clarinval, where he stressed the constant presence in our country of numerous companies from Belgium, which is a relevant investor for Argentina. the total amounts to US$ 1,113 million, with Argentine exports for US$ 493 million, with a year-on-year growth of 17%, and imports for 620 million.

Original source in Spanish