Economic relations between the European Union (EU) and the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), a South American trading bloc, were weakened in 2005, an EU commissioner said on Monday.

When meeting reporters in Madrid, Joaquin Almunia, the EU's commissioner for economic affairs, admitted that Latin America was not a priority for his bloc, which considers its two neighboring regions, Eastern Europe and North Africa, as being more important.

But he blamed the weak commercial integration on disagreement between the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United States, which has been attempting to set up a free trade area with Latin American nations.

The commissioner also said he hoped that the EU-Latin America Summit, scheduled for May this year, could yield concrete results on the issue.

Almunia added that he believed Latin America had made positive changes in its economic planning, but said he was worried because of the continuing political instability in some countries in the region.

Source: Xinhua