José Manuel García-Margallo, former Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and currently serving as an MEP with the victorious Popular Party, voiced skepticism regarding the European Union’s (EU) capacity to secure a trade agreement with Mercosur prior to the advent of 2024.
He expressed these views during the fifteenth Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly in Madrid.
The EU-Mercosur agreement, under negotiation for two decades, was signed in 2019 but remains unratified due to objections from several EU nations such as France and Austria, who cite environmental and quality standards concerns.
Margallo also identified disagreements among the Latin American nations involved – Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina – as a factor in the delayed ratification.
While Margallo considers the modernization of trade agreements with Mexico and Chile as more feasible during Spain’s EU Council presidency, he expressed disappointment over Spain’s lack of emphasis on speeding up visa processes for countries like Ecuador.
He also commented on the EU’s need to enhance its trade ties quickly to keep pace with competitors like China.
In terms of the recent EU-Celac summit, Margallo said it ended with indistinct declarations.
Despite the EU announcing an investment of €45 (US$50) billion in Latin America through its Global Gateway program, the summit’s main aim of addressing the war in Ukraine remained unresolved due to Nicaragua’s refusal to sign the summit’s final declaration.
Despite recognizing the invasion, Margallo pointed out that many Latin American countries hesitated to impose sanctions, which could lead to a more constrained and less ambitious international liberal order.