 Complete the following phrase:  Being both the European Union EU and the Southern Common Market Mercosur custom unions, their relation has been however described as asymmetrical, both in terms of their contrasting stage of economic development and degree of institutionalization. The EU-Mercosur Inter-regional Framework for Co-operation Agreement was signed on 15 December 1995 in Madrid, dealing with trade, economics and information exchange between the two blocs. Despite the framework being a preliminary stage for trade liberalization, by 1998 most agricultural ministers in the EU member states still opposed starting negotiations with Mercosur. The framework fully entered into force on 1 July 1999. In June 2019, in the context of the 