Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, voiced concern to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, regarding the extra conditions the European Union proposed in March for the trade agreement with the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
During a joint press statement following their meeting at the Planalto Palace, the presidential office, Lula da Silva said, “I conveyed to President Von der Leyen Brazil’s apprehension about the supplementary instrument to the agreement put forth by the European Union earlier this year, which broadens Brazil’s commitments and imposes penalties for non-compliance.”
The meeting marked the first visit by an EU chief executive to Brazil in a decade, with the EU-Mercosur agreement (comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay) forming a central discussion point.
The Mercosur-EU trade agreement, finalized in 2019 following 20 years of negotiations, still awaits ratification by the parliaments of the signing countries.
However, European governments are skeptical about the adequacy of the agreement’s environmental safeguards, fearing increased transatlantic trade could result in further environmental degradation.
“The principle that should govern strategic partnerships is mutual trust, not suspicion and penalties,” asserted the Brazilian president.
He further emphasized, “The European Union has introduced its own laws with extraterritorial implications that disrupt the balance of the agreement. These actions potentially impose constraints on Brazil’s agricultural and industrial exports.”
Following her discussions in Brasilia, Von der Leyen is set to continue her tour with visits to Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, where she will meet with Presidents Alberto Fernández, Gabriel Boric, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, respectively.
The Latin American tour, originally slated for April, was postponed due to President Lula da Silva’s illness.
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