THE renegotiation of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Mexico and the European Union (EU) could conclude as early as March, Mexico’s deputy foreign minister Carlos Alberto de Icaza said Friday.

“We have completed the chapters on political capital and cooperation. We are 95 percent complete on commercial terms, as we have already closed 10 chapters on market access and technical issues,” he said.

At a seminar on EU-Mexico relations, de Icaza said progress had been made in sectors including climate change, law and justice, human rights, civil organizations, labor, market access and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Mexican official said the renegotiation of the FTA, which came into effect as early as in 2000, goes “beyond trade ... to encompass the entire strategic relationship. It is a comprehensive agreement, which includes a political chapter.”

The EU accounts for 8 percent of Mexico’s foreign trade, and de Icaza said there is a “great margin to increase trade and investment exchanges.”

The EU is the second-largest foreign investor in Mexico, after the United States, with which Mexico is currently renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Trade between Mexico and the EU tripled over the past 17 years due to their free trade deal, an increase from US$20.8 billion to US$61.7 billion a year.

Mexico signed an Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement with the EU in 1997. The pact developed into a comprehensive free trade agreement that came into force in 2000 and 2001 respectively to cover trade in both goods and services.

In May 2016, the EU and Mexico started negotiations to update the free trade deal.

(Xinhua)