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3.2 European foreign investment in MERCOSUR
The European economic interest in the Common Market of the South (MER-
COSUR) lies in the realized and expected profits obtained by the resident European
corporations within the domestic markets and in the area of foreign trade. In terms
of foreign trade the EU between 1990 and 1994 was able to “more than double”
their exports to MERCOSUR countries, whereas imports rose only slightly: “a consequence
of the unilateral liberalization on the part of the MERCOSUR countries.
Especially Brazil, which lowered their tariffs from an average of 52 to 14 percent,
became a desired market.” 176
Between 1995 and 2002 the EU realized a current account surplus of 4.2 billion
US-dollars with Brazil. According to the German employers’ umbrella organization
BDI:
“[...]since 1995, in its trade with Brazil, Germany has been benefiting from
surpluses averaging approximately 1.5 billion dollars a year.” 177
The European Union as an economic block is the main foreign-trade partner of
MERCOSUR. The trade balance creates the following picture:
EU-MERCHANDISE TRADE WITH MERCOSUR
Source: DG Trade: http://trade-info.cec.eu.int/doclib/html/111832.htm
176 Ling, Martin, ibid., p. 4.
177 http://www.bdi-online.de/RedDot/Protokoll_final_version_2003.pdf.
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