RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, began a two-day official visit to Brasilia on Thursday to review the bilateral agenda and “boost” efforts to achieve the ratification of the agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur.
González Laya arrived early this morning in Brasilia on a visit that on Friday will also take her to Asunción. In the early hours of Thursday, she met with the Brazilian heads of Regional Development, Rogerio Marinho and Agriculture, Tereza Cristina Correa.
On Friday, the Spanish minister will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Alberto Franco França, and later with the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, before leaving for Asunción.
In a brief statement at the beginning of her meeting with Marinho, González Laya described the relationship with Brazil as “old friends” and “strategic partners”. “We are looking to the future,” she added.
The foreign minister also highlighted that role in the opening greeting of the meeting with the agriculture minister and referred to the agreement between the EU and Mercosur, signed in 2019 after twenty years of negotiations but still pending ratification.
It is necessary to “work to close some things that are open,” said González Laya, who also expressed his commitment to “push” the process to “put it in motion.”
Some European nations have been reluctant to ratify this agreement because they consider that there are insufficient environmental guarantees, especially in the protection of the Amazon,
Given this impasse, the Spanish minister advocated “working together” with Brazil to overcome the stumbling blocks in this negotiation.
No specific dates have been set for closing this issue. Still, recently the European Commission acknowledged that the process is being delayed by issues such as elections in several countries and does not expect it to come into force before the end of 2022.