(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 18 - Italy is broadly in favour of the
EU-Mercosur trade deal but there are some points still open such
as unsustainable costs for producers as highlighted by Farm
Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani
said Monday.
"We are in favor in principle of the EU-Mercosur agreement, but
there are some points that must be resolved because they are not
fully satisfactory for Italy," Tajani, who is also deputy
premier, told a press briefing in Brussels.
"I am in favor of concluding the negotiations, but there must be
an agreement and there are still some points on which there is
no agreement".
The position, compared to that of Minister Lollobrigida, "is not
different", he specified.
Lollobrigida earlier said: "To date, although we are in favor of
open and regulated markets, Europe is not able to guarantee the
protection of its entrepreneurs with trade agreements with
nations that have extremely lower production costs and therefore
capable of entering the market with prices that are not
sustainable for our entrepreneurs."
Lollobrigida spoke in a press briefing on the sidelines of the
EU Agrifish Council, about the trade agreement between the EU
and the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay). (ANSA).