After 25 years of negotiations, the EU has finally reached the finish line when it comes to a trade agreement with the Mercosur countries. On Wednesday, the EU Commission approved the agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Now the EU countries and the EU Parliament must do the same. Otherwise, the agreement cannot take effect. That approval should come quickly, is the call from Danish business.
Europe has already lost market share in the Mercosur countries to China, says Peter Bay Kirkegaard, senior chief consultant at the Confederation of Danish Industry.
- This also means that the Mercosur countries have been drawn more into the Chinese sphere of interest. This agreement can help to reverse that development, so that we can pull them back in a European direction, says Peter Bay Kirkegaard.
Great potential
He estimates that the agreement could increase Danish exports by between 1.6 billion kroner and 2.5 billion kroner.
- The Mercosur countries have tariffs of up to 35 percent and lots of technical trade barriers. When they are removed, we will get unprecedented access to a very attractive market consisting of 273 million inhabitants and an economic area that is the sixth largest in the world. So it is in every way an important agreement to get in place, says Peter Bay Kirkegaard.
He points to pharmaceuticals and industrial goods as areas where Danish companies can increase exports.
Danish Business also sees great potential in the agreement. This is according to Michael Bremerskov Jensen, Head of Global Market Development at the Danish Chamber of Commerce.
- The agreement removes over 90 percent of the customs duties on trade in goods between the EU and Mercosur and eliminates a host of previous barriers to European companies being able to bid on public contracts in the four South American countries, says Michael Bremerskov.
He points out that the agreement will give Danish and European companies better market access in the areas of food, machinery, clothing, chemicals, as well as cars and car parts.
- The Danish Chamber of Commerce is now crossing its fingers that the agreement in its entirety, and also the parts that require ratification in the national parliaments of the individual EU countries, can be quickly approved and come into effect for European companies and consumers, says Michael Bremerskov.
/ritzau/
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