Scholz: still pushing for swift EU-Mercosur deal

BERLIN, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Germany and Brazil both still want the European Union and Mercosur to come to a swift agreement on a free trade deal despite the latest hitch in negotiations, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday at a joint news conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The EU and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay looks increasingly unlikely to close free trade negotiations this week, as envisaged, with Argentina's incoming government needing to approve outstanding issues.

"We are emphatically pushing for the deal to swiftly be concluded," Scholz said. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Sarah Marsh, Editing by Linda Pasquini)