Brazil will send a counterproposal to the EU in the coming weeks, says Lula – 07/19/2023 – Market

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Wednesday (19) that he will send the European Union a counterproposal on the long-delayed trade agreement with Mercosur in the next two or three weeks.

“We have prepared the Brazilian response, it is being discussed and in two or three weeks we will deliver the proposal to the European Union,” Lula told reporters after attending the third EU-Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit in Brussels.

He said he believes the European Union will agree to his counterproposal.

The European Union and the Mercosur bloc, formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, concluded negotiations in 2019, but the agreement is suspended due to concerns about deforestation in the Amazon and Brazil’s commitment to action against climate change.

Lula promised to reformulate Brazilian climate policy.

The European Commission proposed to attach an appendix to the agreement to demonstrate commitments to deforestation and other areas of sustainability and awaits Mercosur’s response.

“For the first time I am optimistic that we will conclude this agreement this year, and it would be very good if we could conclude this agreement during the Spanish presidency”, stated Lula.

“It was an extremely successful meeting. I think that of all the meetings I participated with the European Union, this one was the most successful. Eight years ago there had been no CELAC meeting. The participation of 60 countries unequivocally demonstrated the interest of the European Union in turn its eyes to Latin America”, said the president.

Lula spoke about the European Union’s intention to offer US$ 100 billion to combat deforestation and repeated his promise to combat the devastation of the Amazon.

“In August, for the first time in 45 years, we will have a meeting with all the Amazonian countries to discuss a strategy in defense of the Amazonian territory, taking into account that in the Amazon of South America there are 50 million human beings who need a better quality of life. “, he stated.