After meeting with Lula, president of the European parliament demonstrates support for the agreement with Mercosur

After a bilateral meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, showed support for the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.

Ahead of parliament since last year, Metsola used social networks to talk about the meeting with the Brazilian representative. “Together, we can cooperate even more on trade, climate or energy. With the right environmental and sustainability safeguards, the EU-Mercosur Agreement can be a win-win,” Metsola wrote.

The meeting between the two leaders took place this Monday morning (17), during Lula’s visit to Brussels to participate in the III CELAC-European Union Summit. The event aims to discuss geopolitical tensions, the increase in hunger and poverty, environmental challenges and the reform of the international financial system.

Lula, however, took advantage of the trip to make statements about the free trade agreement between the two economic blocs. Under negotiation for more than 20 years, the agreement, finalized in 2019, has been stalled since the European Union made a series of new demands on Mercosur so that the pact is finally closed.

Such demands, however, caused discomfort on this side of the Atlantic. Lula has called the new conditions of the European bloc “unacceptable”. For the agreement to be endorsed, the European Union requires that South American countries follow a series of new resolutions on environmental protection with regard to the Amazon.

European protectionism is criticized by Lula

In his speech at the opening of the Summit in Brussels, this Monday, the president again criticized such demands. “The conclusion of the Mercosur-European Union Agreement is a priority and must be based on mutual trust and not on threats. The defense of environmental values, which we all share, cannot be an excuse for protectionism,” said Lula.

“Protecting the Amazon is an obligation. We are going to eliminate its deforestation by 2030. But the tropical forest cannot be seen only as an ecological sanctuary. Sustainable development has three inseparable dimensions: economic, social and environmental. worry about the right to live well for the inhabitants of the Amazon”, defended the Brazilian.

These requirements, however, are not seen as a concern for South American forests. These obstacles are a way of camouflaging the concern of some European countries that are afraid of losing market to Brazilian and South American products.