Europeans will be more “flexible” to close agreement with Mercosur, says ambassador

The European Union ambassador to Brazil, Ignacio Ybañez, said that the countries that make up the trade bloc intend to be more “flexible” to implement the agreement with Mercosur, which was closed in 2019 but is blocked by new demands from Europeans.

Among these requirements are restrictions on products supposedly coming from deforested areas and government purchases that could be disputed by the bloc’s partners on an equal footing with local companies.

The two demands, sent in a side letter in the first half, they became a point of contention and strong criticism from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) even before heads of state, as occurred recently during the Summit on the New Global Financial Pact, in Paris.

“We are going to be flexible. For us, the agreement is much more important than public purchases, than small details that can be finalized at the end of the negotiation. The agreement is a gamble looking towards the future and we believe that both parties win. If we don’t win everything, we’ll already seek some compensation looking forward”, said Ybañez in an interview with the newspaper. The state of Sao Paulo Published this Tuesday (25).

The European representative in Brazil considered Lula’s criticisms of the terms signed in the agreement by other presidents to be legitimate, and that the only pending issue after 2019 was related to environmental requirements. This, however, would not close the doors to public purchases – “it may be that things that the Mercosur countries ask for are good and we can accept”, he concluded.

As for environmental issues, which Lula considers sanctions as a threat, Ybañez denied and said that the amendment was only presented this year because there was no “environment” during the previous government. The handover of the Ministry of the Environment to Marina Silva, he says, signaled a new path.

“It is not true that we were waiting for president Lula to arrive and presented him with a document that was designed for the previous government. The document is for the future, because the agreement goes forward ”, he concluded.

Lula is the temporary president of Mercosur until the end of the year, and intends to finalize the agreement with the European Union this semester. In addition to him, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also occupies the position in the European bloc and has already signaled the same intention.

During the 3rd European Union-Celac Summit meeting, held last week, European representatives also indicated this possibility, and a new negotiation meeting is scheduled for August, in which Mercosur will present a counterproposal to the bloc’s restrictions.