Mercosur summit exposes divisions over implementation of EU trade agreement

A Mercosur heads of state summit in Paraguay  on Tuesday exposed differences among member states over the implementation of the agreement with the European Union, while leaders also expressed solidarity with Venezuela following the deadly earthquakes that struck the country last week.

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, host of the summit and responsible for handing over the bloc's rotating pro-tempore presidency to Uruguay, opened the meeting with a sharp criticism of Mercosur's internal "asymmetries."

"The playing field is not level for everyone. We do not have the same markets, the same industries or the same logistics," Peña said at the headquarters of the CONMEBOL regional football association in Luque, on the outskirts of Asunción.

Also attending were the presidents of the member states: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Rodrigo Paz (Bolivia) and Yamandú Orsi (Uruguay), as well as the presidents of associate members Chile, José Antonio Kast, and Ecuador, Daniel Noboa.

Argentina's President Javier Milei, who had previously confirmed his attendance, cancelled after the resignation of his Cabinet chief Manuel Adorni. 

Thirty-five years after Mercosur's creation in 1991, Peña delivered a strong message. He called for "concrete results" from the agreement with the European Union, signed in January and still awaiting ratification by the EU.

Peña complained of the "bitter taste" left by the initial implementation of the agreement.

The Paraguayan president was referring to the sensitive issue of allocating export quotas with preferential tariff treatment within the regional bloc for products destined for the EU.

"It is a matter of fairness," he said, arguing that some partners had managed to secure a disproportionate share of certain sectors during the early stages of the new trade relationship.

The EU grants import quotas with preferential tariff benefits, while it is up to Mercosur to decide how those volumes are distributed among its members.

"If Mercosur wants to be credible abroad, it must first be fair at home," Peña declared, speaking first at the bloc's 68th summit.

"Do we want a Mercosur where the strongest tramples on the weakest?" he asked.

"Paraguay maintains its position on the allocation of quotas. This is not a whim; it is a matter of justice," Peña concluded.

The heads of state also approved the official launch of negotiations on a trade partnership agreement with Japan and discussed the technical details of the agreement with the European Union, signed in the Paraguayan capital in January and partially in force since May.
 

Support for Venezuela

At Lula's request, the leaders observed a minute's silence in solidarity with Venezuela and the victims of the powerful twin earthquakes, which authorities say has now claimed more than 1,900 lives.

"Tragedies such as this remind us of the importance of solidarity and regional co-operation," Lula said, lamenting the "incalculable human and material losses."

Uruguay's President Orsi announced that "this morning, the disaster risk management authorities of the Mercosur countries met to co-ordinate joint action in order to organise assistance" for Venezuela, although he provided no further details.

In their final declaration, the member states and associate countries "reiterated their full willingness to provide whatever assistance they are able."

Bolivia unrest

The bloc also expressed its firm support for the government of Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz after weeks of road blockades organised by trade unions, Indigenous groups and farmers demanding his resignation, amid the country's worst economic crisis in four decades.

Peña voiced his "firm rejection of any attempt to destabilise the sister Republic of Bolivia" and the government of Paz, who was "legitimately elected in free and fair elections" last October.

Kast, whose country is an associate member of Mercosur, also expressed his "solidarity with your democratic government" directly to Paz.