French President Emmanuel MacronOn Wednesday he described the negotiated free trade agreement as “very bad”. Mercosur and that European Union (EU) and suggested on the second day of his visit to “make a new one”. Brazil.
The deal “as it is currently being negotiated is a very bad deal for you and for us,” Macron said at an economic forum in Sao Paulo.
“There is nothing in this agreement that takes into account the issue of biodiversity and climate. Nothing! That’s why I say it’s not good at all,” he stressed to an audience of Brazilian businessmen.
The French president called for the conclusion of another agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia) that includes environmental issues.
“We have been negotiating with Mercosur for 20 years. Let us conclude a new agreement (…) that is responsible from the perspective of development, climate and biodiversity,” he demanded.
“An agreement with mirror clauses that makes it easier for your companies to access the European market (…) and that places higher demands on our farmers and our industrialists on both sides.”
Macron has repeatedly spoken out against this trade agreement, whose rules he considers not “homogeneous” with the European ones.
The draft pact, negotiations for which began in 1999, envisages eliminating most tariffs between the two zones, creating a trading area for more than 700 million consumers.
After a political agreement in 2019, opposition from several countries, including France, blocked the final adoption, a rejection compounded by the agricultural crisis rocking Europe. Other countries such as Germany and Spain support the introduction.
During a visit to Brazil at the beginning of March, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and President Lula expressed optimism that the pact would be concluded.
SPRING: AFP