On behalf of the European Union, I would like to welcome Mexico's Delegation, led by Ms Luz María DE LA MORA SÁNCHEZ, Vice-Minister for Foreign Trade and the Discussant, Ambassador H.E. Ms Clare KELLY (New Zealand) for her introductory words.

Mr Chair, let me start by highlighting that in the EU we qualify our partnership with Mexico as ‘strategic’, meaning that we are committed to working together across many overarching areas of policy, ranging from economics to trade, social, and political cooperation.

Mexico is the country that led the central and South American economies to openness in the 1990s. It is the first country - in Latin America - with which the European Union concluded a Global Free Trade Agreement, in force since 2000. Both the EU and Mexico are extremely open economies, which have succeeded in resisting protectionist policies and promoted initiatives to eliminate barriers to trade. The EU is fully committed to conclude and sign swiftly the modernisation of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement; this will provide a comprehensive and up-to-date framework for our relations.

At the same time, we recognise that Mexico faces a significant number of challenges. These include the need to reduce income inequality internally, and to balance its dependence on the US market externally with the discovery of new export markets. Mexico has the ambition to be a reliable manufacturing hub supplying both the North and South American markets. Equally, Mexico’s OECD membership is a reflection of its ambitions to become a higher income knowledge-driven economy, which the EU very much supports.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, EU-Mexico trade is doing well; the EU is Mexico’s third largest trading partner and second in terms of Mexican exports. It is important to note also that a large share of Mexican imports from the EU are used in the Mexican production value-chain and boost Mexican exports. Mexico’s trade to GDP ratio for 2021 was a very high 82% - a 5% increase from 2020.

European companies have historically been significant investors in the Mexican economy, and since 2000 over 40% of foreign direct investment in Mexico has come from the European continent. Indeed, accumulated FDI stocks from the EU from 2000 to 2021 amount to close to USD 200 billion, which ranks the EU as the second investor in Mexico.

The international community is facing major geopolitical challenges, above all resulting from Russia’s brutal aggression in Ukraine, which continues to challenge the rules-based international order. We have welcomed Mexico's position at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, and encourage Mexico to adopt measures such as dual-use export controls.

Mexico is an active participant in the work of the WTO and is committed to the multilateral trading system. The EU welcomes Mexico’s support for WTO reform, and its participation in the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA). We also commend Mexico for its participation the Joint Statement Initiatives on Services Domestic Regulation, E-commerce and Investment Facilitation, as well as in the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD).

We would be remiss if we did not encourage Mexico to join important agreements of which it is not yet a member, like the Information Technology and Government Procurement Agreement.

Mr Chair, the EU would also like to raise some concerns as regards some aspects of Mexico’s trade and investment policy. As a general remark, while Mexican legislation is advanced as regards the various aspects of its trade policy, the EU must note shortcomings in the implementation of existing legislation, sometimes due to an unclear or uncertain nature of the scope of applicable regulations.

More specifically, the EU is concerned about the deterioration of the investment climate, in particular increasing legal uncertainty and some apparent disregard of international obligations. Some actions taken, particularly in Mexico’s energy sector, are to the detriment of trade and investment, not only in this sector but also across all economic sectors. A return to a more inward-looking policy would be fraught in our view with difficulties and setbacks. 

A level-playing field is essential in attracting investment, and to generate political stability and ensure predictability for investors. Discrimination in favour of State-owned enterprises has become an unfortunate daily reality faced by EU investors.

Furthermore, more efforts are needed as regards effective and unified application of customs procedures. In particular, EU operators are concerned with the highly burdensome and costly import procedures that often impose disproportional requirements and high quantity of documents. Similarly, the EU has significant TBT concerns regarding applicable rules on required certification and standards, which are often unclear, costly and disproportionate, in particular for spare parts and medical devices. The problems seem also to be particularly frequent in relation to sanitary and phytosanitary import authorisations and procedures.

The EU has addressed to Mexico a series of questions seeking clarifications on its intellectual property rules and procedures. The EU would see scope for improvements as regards IPR enforcement and protection of geographical indications. Lastly, the EU would encourage Mexico to continue its efforts and to progress further in opening up its markets to foreign enterprises in particular in the area of government procurement as well as services.

On behalf of the EU, I look forward to a constructive exchange of views during this review and I wish Mexico's delegation the utmost success during its Trade Policy Review.