Macron defends new Mercosur-EU agreement: “It’s terrible”

After visiting the Amazon and following the launch of a submarine in Rio de Janeiro, the president of France, Emmanuel Macronfinally talked about the Mercosur-European Union agreement that he and Lula (PT) buried.

In a meeting with businesspeople at the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp), the French president criticized the terms of the current agreement and defended drafting a new one.

“The Mercosur-EU agreement as it is being negotiated now is a terrible agreement. It was negotiated 20 years ago”said Macron in the closing speech of the Brazil-France Economic Forum.

“I think you have to consider [no acordo] biodiversity and the climate, and that’s not the case, that’s why we can’t defend it, I don’t defend it”he added.

“So we need to put aside notions of something built 20 years ago and look for a new agreement, built on new objectives, that has the fight against deforestation, climate change and the fight for biodiversity at the center of its priorities”he completed.

Haddad does not want to give up on the Mercosur-EU agreement

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, in turn, said that it is necessary to insist on the Mercosur-European Union agreement.

“We must not give up on this agreement. If it was possible to approve the tax reform after 40 years, why not, after 20 years, approve a good agreement European Union and Mercosur”he stated.

Lula and Macron’s role in the agreement

Lula and Macron are the two most responsible for burying the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.

The negotiations were in their final moments, when Lula invented two problems: he complained that the European Union wanted to punish Brazil for environmental issues and that it needed to prevent foreigners from participating in government procurement tenders.

Macron, in turn, said in 2023 that he would oppose the conclusion of the EU-Mercosur agreement.

“It is a completely contradictory agreement with what he (Lula) is doing in Brazil and with what we are doing. This agreement, in essence, does not take into account climate biodiversity”said the Frenchman.

The somewhat meaningless argument only demonstrates the French president’s fear of losing approval among rural producers in his country, accustomed to trade protectionism.

In January of this year, Macron asked the European Commission to stop the talks.