Once again, the signing of the expected trade pact between the two regions will be delayed after having been very close to finalizing it.
After expectations were raised last week by the president Luis Lacalle Pouhis Brazilian counterpart, Lula da Silvaand the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to close the agreement during the summit of the Mercosur which will take place this week in Rio de Janeiro, the president of the neighboring country and the Argentine foreign minister, Santiago Cafierothey put cold cloths on that concretion.
Yesterday, in statements to the Argentine newspaper La Nación, the outgoing chancellor, who will leave his position on December 10 when Alberto Fernández cedes power to Javier Milei, It ruined the expectations raised last week. “The conversations will continue and the work done is a lot, but the conditions are not met to sign the agreement“Cafiero emphasized the pact, arduously negotiated – with pauses included – for more than 20 years.
The treaty, whose negotiations concluded in 2019 but which later collided with new differences between the parties, “has a negative impact on the industry of Mercosurwithout reporting in return benefits for their agricultural exports, which are limited by very restrictive quotas and subject to unilateral environmental regulations that expose them to future vulnerability,” Cafiero explained bluntly.
Lula’s position and his reproach to Macron
Lula told reporters in dubai who yesterday met with Macron there on the sidelines of the climate change conference COP28 because he knew the French president’s objections to the agreement and wanted to convince him to change his position. After the meeting, Macron, whose country was always the most reluctant to the agreement of the EU, He told reporters that he was against the agreement because it was not good for anyone, was negotiated a long time ago and “does not take into account biodiversity and the climate” and only dismantles tariffs.
Lula said that in his meeting with Macron He asked him to “open your heart” and think that the countries of South America and Mercosur are “poor countries, small countries.” “If we do not have an agreement, be patient. It is not due to lack of will. The only thing that has to be clear is that they no longer say that it is the fault of Brazil or because of South America“Lula declared about Macron and added that “if there is no agreement, at least it will be evident whose fault it is.”
The agreement between the EU and Mercosurthe block that comprises Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, It was sealed in 2019 after 20 years of arduous negotiations. However, it was not ratified due to the concerns of the European bloc about environmental policies, especially Brazil during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, which promoted the deforestation of the Amazon to favor agribusiness.
An infinite agreement
At the beginning of July, President Luis Lacalle Pou criticized, during his speech at the LXII Summit of Mercosur Heads of Statethe delays in closing the agreement with the European Union (EU), while ensuring that he will not stop demanding flexibility and modernization of the bloc.
“25 years of negotiations in the modern world is not logical, all the things that have changed in this time,” he reflected. “We know what things we have in favor, we know what things we have against, let’s clear the obstacles to be able to complete, among other things, because we need to give credibility to the particular actors so that trust is finally built,” he stated.
Source: Ambito
