The Uruguayan authorities have warned of «deficiencies» in the Mercosur regional integration process and have pointed out that, given the lack of agreements, the bloc formed with Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is «doomed to failure».
«If we do not even allow ourselves to question the here and now, our bloc will be irremediably condemned to failure and irrelevance», said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Bustillo, during the inaugural speech of the Ordinary Meeting of the Common Market Council.
Bustillo pointed out that Mercosur needs to be «a bloc that can and wants to project itself into the new world dynamics and trends» and insisted that it must be «modern».
«We have had a critical view of this response», he asserted before questioning whether «the bloc has the will and disposition necessary to face challenges».
His words come in the face of new discrepancies within the bloc due to Uruguay’s individual negotiations with international players such as China and other member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Uruguay’s request to join this pact has been harshly criticized and rejected by the rest of Mercosur countries.
However, Bustillo has asked the members of the bloc to «form an expanded market» and to be a «platform for international insertion» in order to «not settle for immobility». For this reason, he has pointed to the lack of substantial agreements with major powers. «We only have two negotiations with South Korea and Singapore,» he lamented.
For him, this makes Mercosur «lose attractiveness». «We are what we have wanted to be, an imperfect free trade zone», he added, according to information from the newspaper ‘El Observador’.
The country has condemned during a Mercosur summit that the bloc lacks «a common external tariff» and has asserted that restrictions between states «bring more consequences for small countries». «We have not consecrated the first stage of integration. This is a free trade zone», he added.
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou assured on Wednesday that his government will continue to promote trade agreements outside Mercosur despite the fact that on the same day Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay warned that they would take the «necessary measures» to defend their interests.
Likewise, he defended that he requested the entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership within the framework of the «international insertion strategy outlined by the current administration».
For its part, the Argentine government has pointed out that the European Union is showing «little flexibility» to reach an agreement with Mercosur. Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero pointed out during the summit that the EU lacks the appropriate attitude despite the fact that «all the necessary efforts to conclude the pending issues» are still being made. «The EU shows little flexibility, sometimes the ball is not in our court,» he said.
