2023-07-21 11:29:03
Gabriel Boric will be received on Friday July 21 at the Élysée by Emmanuel Macron for a working lunch. To begin his stay in France, the most progressive Chilean president since Salvador Allende (1970-1973) shared a breakfast on Thursday with the leaders of around forty French companies, including Alstom, EDF and Total.
He recalled that his country is full of copper and lithium and that he wants “strengthening the ties that will lead to increased foreign investment” particularly in green hydrogen, of which Chile wants to become the most competitive producer.
An “urgent and highly essential” agreement
Before his visit to France, the young president (37) had spent two days in Brussels for a summit between the European Union and the countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac). The first for eight years: the swing of Latin American governments to the left and the return of Lula to Brazil in 2022 make it possible to renew ties between the European Union and Latin America.
Three free trade agreements greatly fueled this reunion in Brussels: those between the EU and Chile; between the EU and Mexico which extend the already fruitful collaborations between these nations, and that between the EU and Mercosur, the “Common Market of the South” which brings together Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Concluded in 2019, after more than twenty years of negotiation, it has never been ratified. Under the Bolsonaro era, several European countries feared severe environmental degradation, particularly in the Amazon.
His progressive successor, Lula, relaunched discussions, indicating that he wanted “to put Brazil back on the path of development” et “pursue the program to get out of poverty” initiated during his first two terms of office. For the revival of his country, the president of the first Latin American economy judged “urgent and highly essential” the conclusion of the EU-Mercosur agreement, but he regrets that Europe “threats to punish South American states if they fail to meet certain environmental requirements”.
An uneasy European left
Historically opposed to free trade agreements, particularly with the American states (the EU-Mercosur agreement; the Tafta, transatlantic free trade agreement; the Ceta, EU-Canada economic and trade agreement), the leaders of the European left are particularly uncomfortable with the will of their comrades Lula or Boric to conclude them quickly.
Manon Aubry, MEP for La France insoumise (LFI), denounces “lose-lose deals that pave the way for social dumping and environmental degradation”. For her, Lula “returns a little on the agreement, seeing that it is a loser”.
The Brazilian president, for his part, advances in the negotiations and demands an agreement “win-win”. He undertook in Brussels to make a counter-proposal on the environmental aspect to find an agreement between the two blocs by the end of the year.
Boric announces signing in December
Ditto for Gabriel Boric, who for his part announced the signing of the EU-Chile agreement by December. To reassure a handful of Chilean parliamentarians opposed to the treaty, he promised “agreements with green guarantees” which will allow “sustainable development in Latin America”.
“Boric was opposed to free trade agreements when he was an MP, but he changed his tune” by becoming president, notes Lucia Sepulveda, Chilean member of the Stop Ceta-Mercosur collective. She regrets that “the imperatives of growth and the demands of large companies made him change his mind”.
The ecological transition with Latin America to counter China
The countries of Latin America are presenting themselves in particular as strategic allies of Europe in resolving the energy crisis. Holders of critical materials essential to the ecological transition, they become ” the center of the world “, as Gabriel Boric quipped, with French companies. While acknowledging that “China is the main socio-commercial partner in Latin America”, he said he wanted “diversifying export destinations”. His Brazilian counterpart wants him “intensify discussions with the European Union to discuss an agreement between China and Mercosur, as soon as possible”.
To counter the strategy of Chinese investments, “the new silk road”, Europe launched at the end of 2021, under the French presidency of the European Union, its plan « Global Gateway », an initiative of the European Commission intended to contribute to the development of emerging and developing EU partner countries. Before the start of the EU-Celac summit on Monday July 17, the European Commission had announced 45 billion euros in investments throughout Latin America.
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