Brussels warns that negotiations on Mercosur remain open. Valdis Dombrovskis defends that trade policy must be based on data and fact and not on “perceptions” The European Commission continues negotiating withMercosur to close the trade agreement.

Paris, for example, took advantage of the changing of the guard in the Argentine Government in December to show its rejection of the closing of the trade pact. Lula's return to power in Brasilia seemed like an opportunity to resurrect it but old resistance flourishes with each new difficulty.