2023-12-03 17:32:00
Photo. AFP.
The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seemed to insinuate this Sunday that his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron will be responsible if the European Union (EU) and Mercosur cannot close their free trade agreement, after the European leader stated that he opposes the pact.
Lula told reporters in Dubai that this Saturday met with Macron there on the sidelines of the COP28 climate change conference because He knew the French president's objections to the agreement and wanted to convince him to change his position.
After the meeting, Macronwhose country was always the most reluctant to the EU agreement, said to journalists whoHe was against the agreement because it was not good for anyone.it was negotiated a long time ago and “does not take into account biodiversity and 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.”
“Well, he didn't think,” Lula declared of Macron.
“If we do not have an agreement, be patient. It is not because of a lack of will. The only thing that has to be clear is that they no longer say that it is because of Brazil or because of South America,” he said.
“If there is no agreement, at least it will be clear whose fault it is,” he insisted.
The agreement between the EU and Mercosur, the bloc made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, was sealed in 2019 after 20 years of arduous negotiations.
However, It was not ratified due to the European bloc's concerns about environmental policies, especially Brazil's during Jair Bolsonaro's presidency, which fueled deforestation. of the Amazon to favor agribusiness.
“Take responsibility for the fact that rich countries do not want to make an agreement because of the prospect of having to make concessions, you understand?…and always win more” Lula Da Silva
In March, the EU presented an additional instrument to Mercosur in which it incorporated a series of environmental requirements that could harm the export of certain products from the regionso it was met with resistance from some countries.
This point was considered by Lula, whose country holds the temporary presidency of Mercosur until December 7, as a “threat”, despite expressing his intention to close the pact.
Photo. AFP.
Mercosur, for its part, delivered its formal counteroffer at the beginning of Septemberafter which the EU said it remains committed to closing a trade agreement.
What are France's fears?
In France, in particular, the agreement generates strong reluctance in the powerful agricultural sector, which fears that the Government will have to reduce or eliminate subsidies for its exports, to avoid unfair competition with Mercosur exports.
Macron announced this Saturday that in March he will travel to Brazil to discuss the issue and lavished praise on Lula as “visionary” and “brave” for his environmental policy, but the Brazilian president was far from impressed.
“Take responsibility for the fact that rich countries do not want to make an agreement because of the prospect of having to make concessions, you understand?…and always win more,” he said.
“We are not colonized. We are independent. We just want to be treated with the respect of independent countries that have things to sell, and the things we have to sell have a price. What we want is a certain balance,” he added.
Lula said that The issue will be discussed by Mercosur leaders at a summit on December 7 In janeiro river.
At that summit, Brazil will hand over the rotating presidency of the bloc to Paraguay, a country that stated that negotiations with the European bloc will not be a priority during its mandate.
Before returning to Brazil, Lula plans to visit Germany, the EU's leading economy, whose government and business community, unlike France, have expressed their support for a quick closing of the agreement with Mercosur.
German business community calls for progress in the agreement with Mercosur, despite Macron's opposition
The German business community urged this Sunday for a rapid implementation of the free trade agreement between the South American economic community Mercosur and the European Union (EU), before the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arrived in Germany and in amid tensions with France due to President Emmanuel Macron's opposition to the agreement.
The president of the Latin American Initiative of German Business (LAI), Ingo Kramer, said in Berlin that many companies hoped that the meetings that Lula plans to hold with German authorities would reach a “positive conclusion” for the agreement.
“Many companies hope that the meeting between the two heads of state and government and their economy ministers will soon bring the final negotiations on the EU-Mercosur agreement to a positive conclusion,” Kramer said, German news agency DPA reported.
“We need the agreement before the end of the year. Otherwise, we run the risk of it becoming an endless story,” he warned, on the eve of the planned German-Brazilian Economic Forum in Berlin, which will be attended by the Brazilian president and of the head of the German Government, Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The EU has been in talks for years with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, and in 2019, after 20 years of arduous negotiations, they reached an agreement.
However, the ratification of that agreement was delayed due to concerns from the European bloc about the environmental policies of the Mercosur countries, particularly during the government of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
In March, the EU presented an additional instrument to Mercosur in which it incorporated a series of additional environmental requirements that could harm the export of certain products from the region, for which it was met with resistance from some countries.
Lula said that the new European demands were a “threat”, despite expressing his intention to close the pact.
After meeting yesterday with Lula in Dubai on the sidelines of the COP28 climate change conference, Macron declared that he was “against” closing the agreement because, according to him, “it does not take into account biodiversity and the climate” and is reduced to a “badly patched” agreement that “dismantles tariffs” as was done before.
“I am against the Mercosur-EU agreement, because I think it is completely contradictory with what he (Lula) is doing in Brazil and what we are doing, because it is an agreement that was negotiated 20 years ago, and that we are trying to patch up, but it is poorly done,” he stressed.
The French president asked that the agreement reward “Brazil for its forestry policy.”
Mercosur, for its part, delivered its formal counteroffer in early September, after which the EU said it remains committed to closing a trade agreement.
The German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) also called for closing the agreement soon.
According to Volker Treier, head of Foreign Trade at the DIHK, a quick conclusion of the agreement would send a clear signal in favor of the German economy.
“The agreement not only opens up new market opportunities for German companies in an important economic area, but also offers important new opportunities for supply chain diversification and raw material sourcing.”
The Greens Party, one of the parties in the coalition led by Scholz, advocated at a recent congress to renegotiate the agreement with Mercosur to end the “intensive extraction of raw materials in the global south for consumption in the global north.” .
However, Scholz's government coalition made it clear days ago in the German Parliament that it supports the planned trade agreement.
According to the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, German companies have been represented in Mercosur countries for more than 100 years with the support of German chambers abroad.
According to their data, 12,500 companies export to Mercosur countries.
The association of German manufacturers of machinery and industrial plants VDMA also urged that the free trade agreement be concluded now.
“Germany and the EU have a lot to do in terms of cooperation with Brazil,” declared Ulrich Ackermann, head of Foreign Trade at the VDMA.
“So far, the country has integrated very little into the international value chain, and access to the EU market is also limited.”
In his words, high customs barriers and technical obstacles to trade make the European export of machines and systems complex and expensive.
“In addition, we compete with China and the United States for access to the Brazilian market,” Ackermann said.
According to the VDMA, machines and systems worth 29 billion euros ($3.1 billion) were delivered to Mercosur countries in 2022, an increase of 26% compared to the previous year.
Almost 30% of all machinery imports came from China, which has almost doubled its share in the last ten years.
The United States came in second place, with a share of 14%, followed by Germany, with 10%.
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