Argentina and Brazil called on the European Union on Monday to “eliminate” the “barriers” that affect the competitiveness of their products within the framework of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur dating from 2019, not yet ratified.
In a joint communiqué on the occasion of the visit to Argentina of the new Brazilian President Lula, the Ministers of Economy of Brazil and Argentina affirm that the new environmental legislation of the EU poses barriers to the competitiveness of the Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay).
The agreement is still pending ratification since its completion in 2019, due to concerns about Brazilian environmental policy led by former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Towards an agreement with China?
It has also been at the center of the debates since Uruguay decided to seek a free trade agreement with China on its own, given the lack of progress in the EU-Mercosur file.
Lula’s camp, however, showed optimism at the end of December, hoping that his new environmental policy, focused on the fight against deforestation, would allow negotiations to unblock.
But the agreements “cannot be advantageous for one party and not for the others, otherwise they are not agreements, but constraints”, warned Sergio Massa, taking as an example the EU’s agricultural subsidy policy, which according to him harms the Brazilian and Argentine producers. .
“In this sense, the challenge that must be assumed to advance in any bloc agreement is at the level of these barriers,” the minister reiterated.
Source: BFM TV
