2023-07-05 15:12:00
President Lula used his first speech of the current mandate at the Mercosur summit to criticize the new environmental demands of the European Union in the free trade agreement with the bloc and said that he has no interest in “agreements that condemn us as exporters of raw materials cousins”.
“[El complemento] presented by the European Union in March is unacceptable. Strategic partners do not negotiate based on mistrust and threats of sanctions,” he reiterated to the presidents of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in Puerto Iguazú, on the Argentine side of the Iguazú Falls. “We have no interest in agreements that condemn us to the eternal role of exporters of raw materials, minerals and oil”.
The president also promised to review and move forward with the agreements with Canada, South Korea and Singapore during the next six months that he assumes the bloc’s rotating presidency. “We will also explore new negotiating fronts with partners such as China, Indonesia and Vietnam, and with countries in Central America and the Caribbean.” Lula winked at the automotive and sugar sectors, declaring that Mercosur still has “an unfinished agenda” with both —in reference to the free trade agreements that it wants to conclude— and once again defended the adoption of a common currency for regional trade , which would not eliminate the respective national currencies.
Translated by José Alberto Gutiérrez
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