2023-12-09 12:48:22
Ricardo Stuckert / PR – 21.11.2023
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) during the BRICS Extraordinary Virtual Summit
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated, on Friday night (8), that one of the reasons for the impasse in the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur has to do with the issue of government purchases, which the European bloc wants it to be made more flexible. The president’s statement was made during a speech at the opening of the PT Electoral Conference, in Brasília, when Lula also spoke about the competitiveness of Brazilian agribusiness.
“That’s why we didn’t make an agreement with the European Union, because we don’t want to give in on government purchases. Government purchases are something for us to serve the government’s interests, strengthening industry and making our micro, small and medium-sized companies grow. That’s why we’re going to put a national component back in, we’re going to go back to making ships and we’re going to demand at least 65% national content in the things manufactured, to generate jobs here.”
Last weekend, during the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, expressed his opposition to an agreement. However, days later, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he had hope in concluding an agreement, negotiations for which have been going on for more than 20 years. During the Mercosur Summit, this week, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, also expressed optimism in closing an agreement “very soon”.
The EU-Mercosur agreement had its general conclusion announced in 2019, but not all points were agreed and, even so, there is a long way to go before its effective entry into force. This is because the treaty needs to be ratified and internalized by each of the member states of both economic blocs. In practice, this means that the agreement will have to be approved by the parliaments and national governments of the 31 countries involved, a process that will take years.
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