Šefčovič: EU trade negotiations are now focused mainly on countries in Asia
Brussels – The European Commission (EC) is turning east after concluding trade agreements with Mercosur countries, Mexico, and the United States, and will seek to establish similar agreements with countries like India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This was stated by European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič in an interview with the Brussels correspondent of TASR.
Maroš Šefčovič, who was instrumental in securing trade agreements with Mercosur, Mexico, and the USA on behalf of the EU executive, stated on Wednesday (September 3) that Europeans should not fear the implications of the agreement with the four South American countries of the Mercosur group – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as there are sufficient legal guarantees to protect the interests of EU citizens. He also confirmed that his mission to seek new strategic trade partnerships is not over, and his upcoming business trips will primarily lead eastward, to Asia.
It will be a free trade agreement with the largest Muslim country
“The negotiations where we have made the most progress are with Indonesia. If we manage to conclude this agreement, it will be a huge free trade agreement with the largest Muslim country. We are talking about 200 million people. It is a very rapidly growing economy in Southeast Asia,” Šefčovič described the situation.
He added that there is significant interest from several members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to closely cooperate with the EU. Currently, the European Commission is negotiating with Thailand and Malaysia, and there is interest in Vietnam.
“I believe that we will be able to fulfill our political commitment and despite the complicated negotiations, we will reach an agreement with India as well,” Šefčovič revealed. During Wednesday’s meeting with journalists at the headquarters of the European Commission, he hinted that he could travel to India in this regard by the end of September.
Negotiations with Australia and the GCC
According to him, negotiations with Australia are also ongoing, and he specified that his last working meeting with the Australian Minister of Trade got stuck on the topic of agriculture.
“We will have to return to this and see if we can find some other solution and unblock the negotiations that were moving in a very good direction,” he stated.
He also reminded that another region is in play, as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) wants to cooperate more closely with the Union. There have already been several rounds of expert-level negotiations with Saudi Arabia, and both sides, according to Šefčovič, are interested in rapid progress. He believes that if these negotiations are successful, it will open the door to a broader regional agreement with other Gulf countries.
“We have already covered America and Latin America; now we need to focus on the east and the far east. And for Africa, there are several agreements, but they have a slightly different character than free trade agreements,” Šefčovič said at the end of the interview. (September 4)
