2 days ago
French and Brazilian leaders disagree on Mercosur after meeting
The presidents of Brazil and France spoke of their differences on the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement yesterday, during a visit of the Brazilian leader to the European Country.
According to reporting by Reuters, French president Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva differed with each other on the issue, with Lula calling for Macron to 'open his heart' to the deal, and Macron pushing back, highlighting the negative impact to French and European farmers.
Lula is set to shortly take up the rotating presidency of the Mercosur bloc – which also includes Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – and indicated that he intends to use his six-month tenure to push the agreement over the final hurdles.
'I will not leave the Mercosur presidency without having concluded the trade deal,' he said.
He also called on Macron to tell his fellow European leaders that Brazil was committed to fighting deforestation.
According to the Reuters report, Macron said he was in favour of free and equitable trade, but that the deal, in its current form, would harm farmers as they would have to compete against South American farmers who are not subject to the same environmental regulations as European farmers.
The French president said that the inclusion of so-called 'mirror clauses' may improve the deal.
Reuters also reported that French farming organisations met with politicians this week and urged Macron to work with other EU countries to form a 'blocking minority' in the Council of the EU against the deal, (a blocking minority is four EU member states).
Mercosur
France and Ireland have been the two EU countries most steadfast against the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris recently telling the Dáil that he is unconvinced that Ireland's concerns about the trade agreement have been 'adequately addressed'.
According to Minister Harris, both he and his officials continue to engage at EU level at every opportunity, with both the European Commission directly and with counterparts in EU member states, including France, to 'voice our concerns with the agreement'.
Harris said both he and his officials have sought to 'interrogate the outcome of negotiations to assess if our concerns have been adequately addressed'.
However, he said: 'I am not convinced they have been.'
