Mexico, EU Sign Free-Trade Agreement

Mexico and the European Union signed an ambitious free-trade agreement that will give EU companies more access to a major Latin American market and reduce Mexican dependence on the United States. “We Mexicans very much appreciate that this is the broadest agreement that the EU has signed with a nation outside its geographic region,” Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo said after signing the pact with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, representing the 15-nation EU. Describing it as a powerful instrument for Mexican development, Zedillo said the pact will create opportunities, more jobs and better income for the Mexican people.