Mexico expects EU trade deal to be approved in 2022, minister says

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The European Union should sign off on its updated trade agreement with Mexico later this year, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Friday.

The EU and Latin America's second-biggest economy in 2018 reached an agreement in principle on updating their joint trade deal, but the coronavirus pandemic and a complex approval process have hampered final ratification in Europe.

Speaking to Mexican lawmakers, Ebrard said that concluding the process would depend on the EU, and that European officials had informed Mexico this would likely occur in 2022.

"We're expecting that this year they approve the update of the agreement that we already have with them," he said.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Leslie Adler)