Angela Merkel is promoting a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU

January 27, 2013
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Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Saturday urged the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to the need for ‘open markets’.

In a meeting with President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, German Chancellor confirmed contacts with Brazil to formalize an FTA. She suggested Piñera to “solve this situation together.”

Merkel insisted that: “We need open markets in terms of free trade and protectionism.” “History has taught us in the 1920s and 1930s”.

Merkel met with the President of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, and her Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Rousseff, on Saturday to speed up negotiations for an FTA between the EU and Mercosur, which also included Venezuela and Uruguay. Paraguay hasn’t yet to normalizing its status.