The Brazilian president called Macron to “open the heart” to Mercosur
– Dear Macronie, open your heart a bit On the possibility of concluding this agreement with our expensive Mercosur, Lula said during a press conference with the President of France.
– This agreement is the best response that our regions can give in the face of an uncertain situation caused by a return unilateralism and customs protectionism He added.
Macron smiled broadly in response to Lula's words, but it did not look like the French President of French. Paris is the strongest European opponent of the market for establishing a market covering almost 800 million people, which was sealed with a handshake in December last year by the chairwoman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Macron wants to calm farmers
Instead, he called to add a “additional protocol” to the contract with Mercosur, which would prevent disturbances in European markets caused by the excess of South American meat. Another demand is to introduce the so -called mirror clauses that would surrendered farmers from Mercosur to the same environmental norms as their European counterparts.
Although the position of France is known, the fact that Macron presented them publicly Luli at such a late stage of negotiations, testifies to his determination to renegotiate the contract – And calm French farmers, obtaining new concessions.
– We need an additional protocol that states that In the event of unfair destabilization of the market, we can start the brake system Macron explained.
– I do not know how to explain to my farmers that when I require them to follow more standards, I open my market on a large scale for people who do not follow them at all – said the French President.
Deja VU
Lula's appeal to Macron seemed to be aimed at reviving their relatives that had connected them during the French President's visit to Brazil last year. About “bromans” [bliskich przyjacielskich relacjach między dwoma mężczyznami] Between them is testified by photos in which both leaders smile widely and hold hands in the Amazon jungle.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Emmanuel Macron, March 26, 2024
Both leaders said that they would strive to reach an agreement in the next six monthsbefore the end of the presidency of Brazil in the Mercosur block.
Criticating the Mercosur agreement in the presence of one of his most ardent supporters, Macron recalls memories of 2019. Then Amazonia was burning, and the relations between Macron and the then President of Brazil Jair Jair Bolsonaro could not be worse because Bolsonaro laughed at Macron's wife, Brigitte.
And although negotiations between the EU and Mercosuru countries have been completed, the President of France later called the European Commission to negotiate an additional climate documentwhich would contain strict climate and deforestation obligations.
Turbulent negotiations
This led to another five years of turbulent negotiations between Brussels and Mercosur's countries regarding an agreement, which has already taken over two decades.
Since the signing of the contract by von der Leyen in Montewideo in December last year, Paris tries to build a coalition of countries that will block the agreement – which would require the so -called qualified minority of EU Member States representing 35 percent. total population of the Union.
Several other countries are also against agreement – the ministers of agriculture of France, Austria and Hungary issued a joint statement on Thursday, in which they expressed concerns about the agreement with Mercosur. However, opposition to the agreement seems less determined since the US President Donald Trump began a trade war, which prompted the EU to attempt to diversify his trade relations.
