About to take over Mercosur, Lula will reinforce interest in agreement with EU

The Itamaraty Palace informed, last Thursday (29), that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is close to concluding a rejoinder to deliver to the European Union in relation to negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the bloc European economy. On the verge of assuming the rotating Mercosur presidency, the PT party must regain momentum in negotiations between the blocs, which have been trying to reach an agreement for more than 20 years.

This week, Lula is traveling to Argentina to participate in the 62nd Summit of Mercosur and Associated Countries, an occasion in which representatives of member countries are expected to debate the free trade agreement with the European bloc. “Lula was directly involved with the issue and we are close to presenting a response to Mercosur so that we can then take it to the European Union”, informed a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Although the pact raises great expectations, South American leaders should not present a new text at this meeting. “The Brazilian government is finishing its evaluation of specific points of the texts inherited from 2019 and of the additional document, translating President Lula’s instructions into a document that will be presented first to Mercosur partners and then to the European Union”, said Ambassador Maurício Lyrio , Secretary of Economic and Financial Affairs.

According to Lyrio, the process is not fast and requires care, but the Brazilian government is “very close to presenting its assessments to Mercosur partners”. In 2019, the South American bloc finalized a free trade document and delivered it to the European Union , who did not accept the proposal and requested that new conditions be added to the text.

With negotiations still stalled, President Lula met, last month, with French President Emmanuel Macron, and the agreement was the subject of a bilateral meeting between the leaders. The French president is one of the main people responsible for blocking negotiations between the blocs.

At this week’s summit, Lula will assume the temporary presidency of the South American bloc for the next six months, and the negotiations could gain a new context. In addition, Spain will assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of this year – the country is one of the greatest enthusiasts of the agreement, and the new scenario may facilitate negotiations.

Integration between Mercosur and associated countries

During the summit in Argentina, the Brazilian government is also interested in discussing the integration of South America. “Integration is fundamental for the development of our countries”, said ambassador Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, at the Itamaraty.

According to members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brazil wants the relationship between the countries that make up the bloc to go beyond trade negotiations. In this sense, the summit should result in the discussion and closing of integration agreements between the South American nations.

“We are working to build a deeper regional integration in Mercosur. With a lot of work we already have such integration in trade relations, but we want to expand to other areas. With dialogues and cooperation between the 12 countries, we seek integration in the energy, health and sustainable development,” said Padovan.