Guajardo – Malmstroem – Photo EC
(BRUSSELS) – The European Union and Mexico agreed Wednesday to hold extra talks before summer as part of an accelerated schedule for a Free Trade Agreement, in the face of a rising global trend towards protectionism.
The new dates, agreed by EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem and Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, are 3-7 April and 26-29 June.
The two will also meet in Mexico City between the rounds to take stock and push negotiators for further progress.
In a joint statement following their phone call, they said the agreement would “boost growth, making our firms more competitive and widening choices for consumers while creating jobs”.
Acknowledging the “worrying” rise of protectionism, they promised to “stand up for the idea of global, open cooperation”.
Last year, the EU and Mexico initiated negotiations to update the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) from 2000. With global trade patterns changing substantially during the sixteen-year period, a “broader and more far-reaching FTA” was needed, they said, “to better mirror other ambitious trade deals that the EU and Mexico have negotiated lately”.
Between 2005 and 2015, the yearly trade flow of goods between the two partners more than doubled (from 26 billion to 53 billion), against the backdrop of the existing Free Trade Agreement.
The EU’s negotiating proposals in these talks are available online. The six proposals, representing the EU’s initial negotiating position, are aimed at modernising different elements of the current EU-Mexico agreement. There is also a report on the latest negotiating round available.
Examples from around Europe of small companies exporting to Mexico
