“We are taking steps towards greater openness,” said Paganini
The foreign minister welcomed Argentina’s support for Uruguay’s position on negotiating independently with countries outside the bloc.
After Argentina’s Foreign Minister Diana Mondino agreed with Uruguay on its position that Mercosur member countries can negotiate with other nations outside the regional bloc, her Uruguayan counterpart, Omar Paganini, reacted to her comments.
“We have been working with Argentina on these issues. In this regard, Uruguay has already expressed since the beginning of our administration the desire for Mercosur to open up more, to generate more trade agreements with the world, and that, if that is not possible, we can do it individually or with the countries that can. Argentina has expressed its agreement with this opposition in the sense of flexibility,” Paganini said in a press conference, according to reports. Underlined.
Although the Uruguayan foreign minister stressed that “it is always better to work together,” he said that this type of initiative is a “step towards greater openness.” “Of course, we must also get the other partners to become more flexible,” he added.
However, Paganini pointed out that all Mercosur countries are “more in agreement than before in being more active in international negotiations.”
The minister referred to a new round of negotiations that could lead to an agreement between Mercosur and the European Union: “Let us hope that now there is a green light or white smoke.” He also stressed that the regional bloc is coming to the old continent with a “different political environment” than six months ago.
According to Paganini, the “keys” to making Mercosur more flexible are “moving forward in the face of the objections raised by Brazil and Paraguay.” The leader also expects that this discussion will be addressed at the Mercosur summit to be held at the end of the year.
For his part, Mondino had said that “Mercosur has not managed in recent years to become an instrument for access to large external markets, in addition to a common external tariff that is high by international standards.” For this reason, Argentina proposed “those members of the bloc willing to open new markets be allowed to begin negotiations on an individual or plurilateral basis.”
