x     Argentina became the first Mercosur country to secure an initial legislative green light for the trade agreement with the European Union, after the Chamber of Deputies approved the text late on Thursday. The bloc also includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, which have launched their own domestic ratification processes. Signed on 17 January in Asunción after more than two decades of negotiations, the pact aims to create an integrated economic space of more than 700 million consumers. It