The long-awaited EU-Mercosur Association Agreement after fifteen years of negotiation

The EU and Mercosur have maintained intense political, economic and cooperation relations for 20 years. Nevertheless, they have still not managed to implement the interregional framework cooperation agreement signed in Madrid on December 15th 1995. This is due in large part to the profound differences on agricultural and industrial issues that have cropped up during the rounds of negotiation and technical meetings. As in 2004, this means that the establishment of a future EU-Mercosur Association Agreement including not only a “free trade agreement plus”, but also the pillars of cooperation and political dialogue, finds itself once again at a crossroads. However,as the main problems are well known,agreement is not impossible if both partners are able to exchange complete new commercial offers during the year 2016.

Key words: interregionalism, EU-Mercosur Association, trade, investment, cooperation,political dialogue, rounds of negotiation

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DOI: doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2016.112.1.225