In Paris, Lula intensifies pressure on negotiations for the EU-Mercosur agreement

The left-wing leader participated in a working lunch with his French colleague, Emmanuel Macron. Pressured by his agricultural sector, he now defends new environmental regulation requirements that, in practice, bury the agreement.

Hours before the meeting, Lula raised the issue publicly in a forum at an international summit dedicated to financing the fight against climate change.

Lula spoke out vehemently against a letter sent by the EU in March to Mercosur, made up of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

In it, the European bloc of 27 countries makes a series of additional environmental requirements relating to the agricultural sector and makes compliance with several commitments of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement mandatory.

Its supporters allege the risks of unfair competition for European producers, due to differences in regulations between the two blocs, and of consumers becoming accomplices in deforestation in South America, due to the opening of borders to many products of this origin.

“It is not possible to have a strategic association and have an additional letter, threatening a strategic partner,” Lula told the audience, which included, among others, the French president and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

According to Lula, the additional document does not allow for an immediate agreement. Its Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, said this Friday that Brussels' additional demands show a willingness to postpone the decision to ratify the alliance.

The four South American countries expect to respond to the European bloc's approach next week.

In reference to European demands, Lula also spoke about Brazil's climate goals and reinforced the objective of “zero illegal deforestation” by 2030.

From January, when he assumed his third presidential term, until May, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon decreased by 31% compared to the same period last year, according to official data.

Under the presidency of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), average annual deforestation in the Amazon increased by more than 75% compared to the previous decade.

A long negotiation process

Lula and Macron hugged goodbye after lunch at the Élysée Palace, but did not give details to the press. Lula plans to speak to journalists in Paris on Saturday morning.

The EU-Mercosur agreement was announced in 2019, after two decades of negotiations. The ratification process was, however, blocked and was further complicated by the leak of the EU letter in March with the new demands.

On Thursday, French agricultural unions and associations called on Macron to respond with a “firm and definitive no” to the trade deal with Mercosur in its current form.

Sources from the Brazilian delegation stated that they are aware of the protectionist profile of the French agricultural sector. They are betting, however, on the new geopolitical reality generated by the war in Ukraine and its effects on supply networks, which require the diversification of energy and food suppliers. Brazil intends to be a strategic ally of the EU in these sectors.

The Latin American giant also does not hide its “trick up its sleeve”: its commercial relationship with China, its main partner in this sector.

Lula's position on the conflict in Ukraine was highlighted during the visit.

The left-wing newspaper Libération displayed on its cover a photo of Lula with the headline “The deception” (La decepción). The newspaper denounced his “anti-Atlantic positions” for distancing himself from Washington and refusing to side with Ukraine.

The publication also highlighted that Lula “will need Western support if he wants to respect his environmental commitments” in the face of pressure from Brazilian agribusiness and a Congress with a conservative majority.

Sources from the Brazilian delegation indicated that Lula is waiting for the right time and place to try to promote peace between Russia and Ukraine, a scenario that is still distant.

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