Macron says he is against European Union-Mercosur – 12/02/2023 – Market

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, said he was against the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which he described as ‘outdated’.

“If I can’t explain it to any European, I’m not going to defend it internationally,” he said at a press conference at the UN Climate COP28, which takes place in Dubai until the 12th.

Macron incorporated the arguments of French agricultural producers into his speech, with strong representation from opposition congressmen in the country.

“I cannot ask our farmers, our industrialists in France, and throughout Europe, to make efforts to decarbonize, to exit certain products, and then say that I am removing all tariffs to bring in products that do not apply these rules” , said the French president, in reference to the disparity in environmental protection standards, which are stricter in France and the European Union than in Brazil.

The speech to the press took place shortly after a bilateral meeting with Lula, who was praised by Macron. “He is visionary, courageous and there is a lot of synergy between our strategies,” said the French president.

In an interview with journalists in the corridors of COP28, Lula reacted to Macron’s speech by saying that he thought France’s position was normal, given the fact that it has a more protectionist history, but that the European Union does not think the same.

High-ranking members of the Lula government already take it for granted that negotiations with the European Union will end without an agreement, as Brazil will not give in to the new environmental constraints and it is unlikely that the Europeans will be able to articulate the positions of all the bloc’s countries in a week. .

Lula refused to renegotiate Europe’s environmental conditions. A Sheet found that, on the way to Dubai, the Brazilian president told Celso Amorim, the president’s main advisor on international affairs, that he would not make concessions. The president would have said that if the Europeans did not accept the agreement by the 7th [data da cúpula do Mercosul, no Rio]they would have to wait for the election of another government in Brazil.

On Thursday (30), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that there had been significant progress in the negotiation process for the agreement between the EU and Mercosur, although it was not possible to say whether this process would be completed by the summit of the South American bloc. .

This Sunday (3), Lula leaves Dubai for Berlin, where he will be received by the Prime Minister of Germany, Olaf Scholz, and will return to discuss the trade agreement, in his last week as president of Mercosur.

The president had scheduled an interview at COP28 at the time following Macron’s, but canceled the schedule. According to the president’s press office, the cancellation was due to the delay in the agenda of the conference’s main press room.

Still at the press conference, Macron defended financial support for forest conservation in Brazil through the carbon market. He also defended the drafting of a ‘more geostrategic’ agreement, rather than working on an old agreement.

The Frenchman also commented on the election of Javier Milei in Argentina, saying that he has already dealt with presidents who have bold proposals and that cooperation with the country must continue. He also said he hopes that Milei will adhere to the climate commitments of the Paris Agreement, recently criticized by the Argentine. “You will see that this is also good for your country,” said Macron.