European farmers have taken to the streets against agricultural policies in recent months
FRED TANNEAU
A political agreement was concluded in June 2019 but never ratified amid concerns over the impact of Brazilian farming on climate change, among other factors.
A number of NGOs and left-wing activists believe that the creation of a vast free-trade zone will accelerate deforestation in the Amazon and worsen the climate crisis by increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told AFP the deal would include changes to “several chapters,” including government contracts, services, intellectual property and the environment.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday repeated a warning to Von der Leyen that the agreement was “unacceptable in its current state.”
The push by the EU and Brazil to get the deal done comes as Macron appears politically weakened after his government collapsed Wednesday in a no-confidence vote — the first time a French government has been brought down by parliament in over 60 years.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has shrugged off France’s opposition, saying: “They no longer decide anything, it’s the European Commission that decides.”
Once a possible deal is signed with Mercosur countries, it will need to be ratified by at least 15 EU members representing 65 percent of the EU population, then by a majority in the European Parliament.
Ignacio Bartesaghi, a professor of international relations at the Catholic University of Uruguay, said it was important for Lula to “show some success in Mercosur” to fend off pressure from Argentina and Uruguay for Mercosur states to be allowed to cut bilateral trade deals outside the bloc.
Von der Leyen is planning a joint news conference on Friday with the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, EU officials told AFP.
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Publish date : 2024-12-06 05:20:00
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