Paris, May 11 (Prensa Latina) With the objective of fostering bilateral relations and commercial negotiations with the South Common Market (MERCOSUR), 25 member countries of the European Union (EU) announced the creation of an association with Brazil Wednesday.

The EU wants to revitalize processes leading to the establishment of a free trade zone, which have been paralyzed since October 2004.

Officials of the Brazilian Embassy to EU stated that the greatest obstacles were the importing of agricultural products, especially beef, and the opening of MERCOSUR service markets to European businesses.

The association will be comprised of business people from telecommunications, energy, financial services, and the car and food industries.

Luigi Gambardella, president of the association, said that Brazil and the EU had a lot to gain from strengthening their mutual relations, and the idea is to increase bilateral dialogue, as no such organization exists.

Brazil was the first Latin American country to establish permanent representation in Brussels for EU members, to facilitate dialogue and commercial exchange, and companies such as Spanish enterprise Telefonica have already expressed an interest.

MERCOSUR is a customs organisation with international legal standing, created on March 26, 1991 by four full member South American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with another six countries as associates: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

The initiative of the EU-Brazil association joins the proposal made by Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to convoke a summit to restart negotiations between EU and MERCOSUR, with the participation of the members of both blocks.

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