BRUSSELS, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) and Mexico agreed to accelerate their trade talks on Wednesday.
The two sides would hold two additional negotiating rounds before summer as part of an accelerated negotiation schedule for a new, reformed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
The two rounds were scheduled on April 3 to 7, and June 26 to 29, between which a bilateral meeting will take place in Mexico City, said the commission.
The move came amid "worrying rise of protectionism around the world" and aimed to reach their global, open cooperation, said the two sides in a joint statement.
Last year, the EU and Mexico initiated negotiations to update the existing FTA from 2000.
The EU is Mexico's third-largest trading partner. Between 2005 and 2015, the yearly trade flow of goods between the two partners more than doubled, increasing from 26 billion euros (27.94 billion U.S. dollars) to 53 billion euros (56.96 billion U.S. dollars), EU data showed.
