Lula believes that the EU will receive a counterproposal from Mercosur in the coming weeks

“The Brazilian response is being discussed among the four countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and in two or three weeks we will deliver the proposal to the European Union,” said Lula at a press conference in Brussels.

“I am optimistic that we will complete this agreement later this year. And I say this year because it would be very good if we could conclude the agreement with Spain on the EU presidency and my 'pro tempore' presidency at the head of Mercosur,” he added.

In March, the EU presented Mercosur countries with a draft with its vision of what the additional environmental chapter should include in the trade agreement negotiated between the two blocs, a text that Brazil vehemently criticized.

“Europe wrote an aggressive letter to Mercosur, which threatened sanctions if we did not comply with certain environmental requirements,” he said.

Lula warns the EU that environmental values ​​cannot justify protectionism

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warned, this Monday (17), that environmental concerns cannot be used to justify trade protectionism, when speaking at the opening of the summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin States -Americans and Caribbeans (Celac), in Brussels.

For this reason, when the president of the European Commission (the EU Executive), Ursula von der Leyen, visited Brazil, Lula stated that “strategic partners do not argue with threats, but with proposals”.

The EU and Mercosur announced in 2019, after two decades of negotiations, a principle of agreement, but the process quickly stalled because the Europeans demanded an additional chapter to the agreement on environmental issues.

“We do not accept the additional letter from the EU. It is impossible to imagine that between historical partners, like us, someone would write a threatening letter. We have prepared our response and we believe the EU will agree with it,” he said.

Lula also said that it is as if the letter presented by the EU had been drawn up “by someone thinking that if they put pressure on us we would give in”.

Argentina and Brazil confront EU demands at the Mercosur summit

Argentina and Brazil, the largest South American economies, confronted this Tuesday (4) the “unacceptable” and “partial” environmental stance of the European Union (EU) in the trade agreement with Mercosur, during a summit of heads of state of the block.

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