President Luis Lacalle Pou arrived this Monday at the summit between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and European Union (EU) that takes place in Brussels, where the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European bloc will be discussed, as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine and climate change; Within this framework, the Uruguayan president will hold bilateral meetings with authorities from the organization.
The European Union announced a investment plan to relaunch ties with Celacwithin the framework of the two-day summit that begins this Monday in Brussels and that faces divergences on issues such as the war in Ukraine. The last summit of both blocks was in 2015, and now the two parties are racing against the clock to obtain results, but the diversity of positions within the 33 CELAC countries complicates consensus on various issues with the EU.
The leaders plan to discuss issues such as trade relations, including the lengthy negotiation with Mercosur, a reform in the composition of the international financial system, climate change and energy and digital transitions. In addition, the European negotiators seek to include a mention of the war in Ukraine.
In this regard, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenannounced on Monday a investment of 45,000 million euros (50,560 million dollars) in a period of several years for the economies of Latin America through the Global Gateway program, an EU plan in response to massive investments from China.
Bilateral meetings
In addition to participating in the summit, the Uruguayan president will take advantage of the space to hold bilateral meetings with authorities of the European body. As reported by the European delegation of Uruguay, Lacalle Pou will have a busy agenda with both political and economic representatives.
In this sense, the first person with whom Lacalle Pou will meet is the president of the European Commission, as well as the speaker of parliament, Roberta Metsola. On the other hand, you will also have a meeting with the President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer.
Climate concessions in pursuit of the agreement
While Mercosur shows more and more anxiety about an agreement that already seems eternal, from Spain they assured that it was set as a goal during tomorrow’s summit to achieve a “road map” in the bloc’s agreement with the mercosur.
However, the agreement between the EU and Mercosur concluded its negotiations in 2019 but has been on hold due to concerns, especially from France, about deforestation in the Amazon and the degree of commitment of Brazil to act against climate change. On the other hand, French farmers put pressure on their president, Emmanuel Macron, so that he does not sign this agreement, like the two chambers of Parliament, fearing a massive arrival of products from Mercosur.
In this sense, von der Leyen met in the morning with the Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who said he will do his part on the climate issue. “We have a commitment to zero deforestation by 2030 in the Amazon,” explained the Brazilian president.
For his part, Von der Leyen celebrated “Brazil’s return to the international stage.” “We are faced with the generational challenge of climate change. That is why we need our close friends to be by our side in these uncertain times,” he said.
The issue of deforestation and environmental issues are one of the stumbling blocks in the negotiations for a trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay). Diplomats from both blocs have expressed that Monday’s meeting will be a forum for discussion.
Source: Ambito
