MERCOSUR and the European Union have been in negotiations towards a bi-regional free trade area since April 2000. Since 1995, MERCOSUR-EU relations have been guided by the EU-MERCOSUR Framework Cooperation Agreement, signed on 15 December 1995 and fully in force as of 1 July 1999. The agreement currently under negotiation consists of three parts: the political dialogue; trade and economic issues and cooperation. The scope and objectives of the agreement were agreed upon at the first negotiating round in April 2000 then at the Madrid Summit of May 2002.
The main forum for the negotiations is the EU-MERCOSUR bi-regional Negotiations Committee (BNC) along with its Subcommittee on Cooperation (SCC), three subgroups on specific cooperation areas and three Technical Groups (TGs) related to trade matters. As of October 2006, sixteen negotiating rounds have been conducted. Since May 2004 negotiations have been carried out through informal technical meetings. In September 2004 both parties made available their market access offers.
At a Ministerial meeting in Lisbon in October 2004, MERCOSUR and EU negotiators reiterated the priority of the negotiation of the Association Agreement. In May 2005 at a meeting in Luxembourg, Ministers reviewed progress achieved to that point and in September 2005, at a Ministerial meeting, they met to conduct a further evaluation of the progress toward a conclusion of the agreement.
| Documents of the Bi-regional Negotiations Committee (BNC) |
| 03-07 May 2004 |
Brussels, Belgium. 13th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 08-12 March 2004 |
Buenos Aires, Argentina. 12th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 02-05 December 2003 |
Brussels, Belgium. 11th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 23-27 June 2003 |
Asunción, Paraguay. 10th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 17-21 March 2003 |
Brussels, Belgium. 9th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 11-15 November 2002 |
Brasilia, Brazil. 8th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 08-11 April 2002 |
Buenos Aires, Argentina. 7th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 29-31 October 2001 |
Brussels, Belgium. 6th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 02-06 July 2001 |
Montevideo, Uruguay. 5th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
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5th meeting - summary of EU offer  |
| 19-22 March 2001 |
Brussels, Belgium. 4th meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 07-10 November 2000 |
Brasilia, Brazil. 3rd meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
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3rd meeting: joint press release |
| 13-16 June 2000 |
Brussels, Belgium. 2nd meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| 06-07 April 2000 |
Buenos Aires, Argentina. 1st meeting of MERCOSUR-EU biregional negotiations committee |
| Source: European Union; Subsecretaría de Política y Gestión Comercial, Dirección Nacional de Polítical Comercial Externa de Argentina |
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