Spain expects Mercosur agreement to be ratified by the end of the year

Spain expects the agreement with the South American trading bloc Mercosur to be ratified by the end of the year, Economy minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Monday.

Under the proposed deal, Mercosur will remove duties on 91% of EU exports, while the EU will progressively remove duties on 92% of Mercosur exports over a period of up to 10 years.

Some EU countries, including heavyweight France, have expressed misgivings about the deal.