2023-07-04 20:07:48
Argentina y Brazil, the majority partners of Mercosur, that also integrate Uruguay and Paraguayreturned this Tuesday to raise the discrepancies with the European Union (EU) that keep the ratification of the agreement signed four years ago by both blocs on hold. The meeting in Puerto Iguazú, 1,270 kilometers north of the city of Buenos Aires, did nothing more than amplify the positions that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva y Alberto Fernandez transmitted three weeks ago to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“The Additional Instrument presented by the European Union in March of this year It is unacceptable“Lula said about the environmental requirements for it to start working free trade Area. “You can’t think that a trade partner of yours can impose conditions on you: ‘If you don’t do such a thing, I’m going to punish you, if you don’t comply with the Paris agreement, I’m going to punish you.’ It turns out that rich countries do not comply with any of the agreements “, he said in relation to the Kyoto, Paris and Rio de Janeiro protocols. “We have no interest in agreements that condemn us to eternal role of exporters of raw materials, minerals and oil. Let’s sit down, overcome our differences and see what is good for the Europeans, for the Latin Americans, for Mercosur and for Brazil.”
The EU and Mercosur began their negotiations in 1999. Two decades later, when presidents Mauricio Macri and Jair Bolsonaro, a final understanding was reached that had to be revalidated by both parties. The presence of the ultra-right in Brazil marked a new moment in relations. The discussions reopened in the midst of the pandemic with new demands from both negotiating parties. In this context, the EU called for ensuring that the export of raw materials with environmental problems is considered a violation subject to sanctions. “It is not possible that there is an additional letter threatening a strategic partnerLula said when he visited Paris at the end of March.
The Brazilian president announced that this Wednesday he will speak by phone with Pedro Sanchez, who now holds the EI rotating presidency. “I will speak with him because he believes it is important to continue discussing and for Spain to help achieve this agreement,” Lula said.
Counter proposal
The Brazilian Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira, announced that, in a few days, Mercosur will present “a counter proposal with the aim of unblocking the bi-regional negotiations”. The words of the presidents of the two most important countries of the sub-regional bloc were heard as a preview of what will be considered next July 17 in Brussels in the framework of the meeting between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Europe hopes to reinvigorate its regional role at a time of China’s sustained advance.
The European Union proposes raising the relationship with Latin America to a more political level
“We have a critical vision of what was agreed then. That was the fruit of a very unequal effort between the parties. Thus, Mercosur was the one that gave in the most, being the block with the lowest level of relative development in the agreement”, Fernández pointed out while opening the Puerto Iguazú summit. “The presentation of new demands in environmental matters, after practically four years during which the negotiating process was virtually halted due to internal political differences in Europe, presents us with a partial vision of sustainable development“.
The content of the interventions by Fernández and Lula had already been anticipated at the meeting at the level of foreign ministers the day before. “The agreement reflects an unequal effort between asymmetric blocks and does not respond to the current international scenario. Europe asks us for changes, but does not tell us how we are going to implement them,” Argentine Santiago Cafiero said on Monday. “The GDP of the EU is approximately 6 times larger than that of Mercosur“. However, Cafiero defended the need for the agreement. “The deepening of the link between Mercosur and the EU is a necessary political sign, in an international context of growing conflict and uncertainty.” In this sense, he stressed that the association will favor the arrival of investments “in strategic sectors” such as energy, knowledge-based services, health and food.
Uruguayan dissidence
The speeches of Lula and Fernández do not find a good reception in Uruguay. Its president, Luis Lacalle Pou, usually maintains that Mercosur is bogged down and has not signed alliances with the world’s main economic and commercial powers. Lacalle especially asked Lula to “be optimistic about the agreement.” And he issued a warning to his associates. “When we see that we are not advancing together, We are going to do it unilaterally”.
The Puerto Iguazú summit brought to light the political differences that exist between Argentina and Brazil, on the one hand, and the other two partners, in relation to what happens in Venezuela, a country that has been suspended from Mercosur. Paraguayan Mario Abdo and Lacalle Pou, from Uruguay, demanded from Lula and Fernández that the bloc condemn the attempt to disqualify the presidential candidacy of María Corina Machado. “A clear signal has to be given for the Venezuelan people to head towards a full democracy that today they do not have,” the Uruguayan president said in this regard.
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