ECIPE Seminar: EU and Mercosur – A conversation with Brazil’s chief negotiator of the EU negotiations
The political signals on EU-Mercosur Association Agreement are suddenly positive. But what do they mean?
As the leaders of the EU and Mercosur have called for a rapid conclusion of the negotiations, some as early as this year, the negotiations will advance substantively on market access and a number of chapters, including market access services, government procurement, sustainable development and trade facilitation.
Mercosur negotiations are the second largest in terms of GDP amongst the currently ongoing EU negotiations, and perhaps the most complex. Brazil holds more investments in Europe than China and Russia together. Perhaps the economic and political merits of the FTA are obvious, as both sides seek to revitalise their economies in a time when the trading system is unravelling. But equally obvious are the long-standing trade issues between them.
ECIPE invites you to a conversation with Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, the chief negotiator of Brazil, as his country takes the rotating Presidency of Mercosur.
What is at stake in the Mercosur negotiations, and its potentials? Is the debate too narrowly focused on agriculture, while ignoring other important aspects? After so many years of negotiations, how could the negotiations cross the finishing line?
Programme
The conversation will be led and moderated by Bruno Maçaes, member of the Advisory Board of ECIPE, author of The New Eurasian Supercontinent, and former State Secretary of Portugal.
Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho is the Director of the Department of Extra-regional Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, with previous postings to Brussels, Ecuador, WTO and the UN.
Location
