As the end of his state visit to Brazil approaches, French President Emmanuel Macron put his feet in the water, in his own words, during an Economic Forum in Sao Paulo, the economic capital. According to him, the EU-Mercosur agreement “as it is negotiated today is a very bad agreement, for you and for us”, he said in front of an audience of Brazilian businessmen.
This trade agreement, negotiated between the European Union and the South American common market of Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia) in 2019 after 20 years of negotiations, intends to remove more than 90% of customs duties between two zones by creating a space for more than 700 million consumers. But opposition from several countries including France blocked its final adoption, an opposition which has strengthened with the agricultural crisis raging in Europe.
“In this agreement there is nothing that takes into account the subject of biodiversity and the climate. Nothing! This is why I say it is not good,” said Emmanuel Macron.
“A new generation agreement”
The French president called for the conclusion of another agreement which takes into account environmental issues for the EU as well as for Mercosur. “Let’s put an end to Mercosur from 20 years ago! Let’s build a new agreement (…) which is responsible from a development, climate and biodiversity point of view”, he continued. “A new generation agreement with mirror clauses which will facilitate access to the European market for your companies (…) and which will be more demanding on both sides with our farmers, our industrialists”.
The French president has more than once stated his opposition to this trade agreement, the rules of which are not, in his eyes, “homogeneous” with European rules. The aim of the mirror clauses is that “the rule which applies internally for production must apply externally when imports are facilitated”, had thus hammered Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the Extraordinary European Council of February 1, 2024. “We are simply asking that the environmental and health rules that we impose on our farmers and several other professions be the same on the side, precisely, of the countries to which we are in the process of “open our doors, otherwise it’s not fair.”
Brazil wants “greater trade”
“We should make the most of the opportunities for greater trade between the European Union and Mercosur. We still have time,” responded Brazilian Economy Minister Fernando Haddad on Wednesday in Sao Paulo. “May the Brazil-France partnership be more and more beneficial for both countries,” he then wrote on the social network X.
Heavyweight of Mercosur, Brazil tirelessly defends the adoption of the agreement with the EU, as do certain European countries such as Germany and Spain.
On Wednesday, Emmanuel Macron celebrated with his Brazilian counterpart the strength of the bilateral partnership by attending the baptism of the third Brazilian submarine of French design at the Itaguai shipyard, near Rio. France is the third largest investor in Brazil, with more than 40 billion euros in direct investment stocks. But Brazilian investments in France amount to less than two billion euros.
For the last day of his visit today, the French president will be welcomed in the capital Brasilia by Lula for discussions dominated by major international issues.