The European Commission is not satisfied with the progress that is being made on the proposed Mercosur deal, European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan has said.

Commenting on the prospects of a Mercosur trade deal being closed, he said: “We’re not satisfied with the progress that’s being made, so there will be no deal this week.”

The possibility of an imminent deal had been hyped in the lead-up to this week’s round of negotiations, but the reality was that internal divisions in Mercosur meant that the issues tabled by the EU in Buenos Aires last December have never been properly addressed. These include access to the Mercosur countries for cars, car parts, dairy and recognition of geographic indicators (GIs).

The issue of access to the EU for Mercosur was parked until these were resolved.