Roundup: Mercosur members pledge to strengthen regional integration, focus on economy

Members of the regional trade bloc Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, kicked off the week with a pledge to strengthen integration and focus on economic issues.

The 49th Mercosur Summit on Monday gathered leaders and top envoys from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, as well as soon-to-be-member Bolivia and associate member Chile, in Paraguay's capital Asuncion.

In a joint declaration, bloc members "reaffirmed their commitment to continue deepening the process of regional integration with an eye to supporting socially inclusive economic development, improving citizens' quality of life, strengthening social justice and eradicating hunger and poverty."

They also highlighted bloc mechanisms that effectively help promote regional cooperation, including the Structural Convergence Fund of Mercosur (FOCEM), which channels money for infrastructure development to the smaller economies.

Another welcome measure was a November meeting of health ministers which "established a pricing mechanism for the joint and coordinated purchase of medications that impact public health," the bloc said on its website.

Argentina's new President Mauricio Macri called for greater "flexibility" in order to advance in negotiations on a trade treaty with the European Union (EU).

Among the bloc's priorities, he said, were making progress toward an agreement with the EU and the Pacific Alliance, a regional trade bloc composed of the Latin American countries Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru.

The idea behind the convergence of the two blocs, Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance, is to strengthen regional trade.

"We haven't done enough," said Macri, according to Argentinian state news agency Telam. "We don't want a Mercosur with two speeds, but for all of us to together put our feet on the accelerator."

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet also urged the bloc "to agree on a date for an accord between Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance."

Underscoring the importance of the regional bloc, Bachelet said Mercosur "is Chile's fourth-largest trade partner and represents a very important destination for our exports."

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff echoed Macri's call for concerted efforts to reach an agreement with the EU, as well as other groups and countries, as a means to tackle the economic crisis affecting the region.

Uruguay takes on the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc in 2016, and President Tabare Vazquez promised to focus on pending economic issues in the first quarter of the year.

"We are going to work on commercial and economic aspects, which are Mercosur's raison d'etre," said Vazquez.

He also expressed his willingness to "exchange as soon as possible the list of offers with the EU and begin the negotiations."

From 2013 to 2015, only 11 percent of the regulations approved by Mercosur had to do with the areas of economy and commerce, he noted.

"Such a low percentage is telling us something," said Vazquez, adding that attending more to economic matters "doesn't mean undervaluing or neglecting other areas that have to do with integration and respect, to which we will also commit our efforts."

Bolivia's President Evo Morales, whose country is in the process of joining Mercosur, said all countries should "work together to protect ourselves from the global economic crisis and work toward the just distribution of wealth." Endi