The European Union's Commissioner who was due to attend the Dec. 7 Mercosur Summit in Rio de Janeiro to sign the trade agreement between both blocs has canceled his trip, it was reported Sunday. According to the Financial Times, Valdis Dombrovskis shall not be attending the event, which in addition to announcements in Buenos Aires and Brasilia coupled with further negative statements from French President Emmanuel Macron, would amount to the end. at least for now, of the much-heralded agreement.
In a strong plea for progress on the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou demanded an end to decades of fruitless negotiations, urging the involved parties to reach an agreement.
Argentina Tuesday handed over the Pro Tempore Presidency of Mercosur to Brazil and Uruguay refused to sign the joint declaration after the bloc's 62nd Summit in the Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú in the northeastern province of Misiones.
Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said Wednesday it was essential that an agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) be concluded as soon as possible, Agencia Brasil reported. Rebelo made those remarks during a forum in Lisbon which was also attended by Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, who is also the South American country's Minister of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services.
France's National Assembly (Lower House) Tuesday voted 281 to 58 against the approval of the EU- Mercosur trade deal on the grounds that it “may encourage” deforestation, among other issues contrary to the country's interests, it was reported in Paris.
France's Junior Trade Minister Olivier Becht expressed his concerns said this week during his visit to Brazil about concluding the EU-Mercosur deal too hastily. While his country does want a deal concluded between the European Union and South America’s Mercosur, Becht warns against entering into it too quickly, without assurances on environmental and social issues.
Márcio Elias, executive secretary of Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, said Sunday that the federal government intends to close the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union this year.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's stance on the war in Ukraine might jeopardize the Mercosur-European Union deal, according to a confidential report drafted ahead of a European foreign ministers' summit and accessed by Politico.
France denies blocking the EU-Mercosur agreement, which it vetoed since it was signed in 2019. However, it reiterates its demands to correct it and says it is waiting for the outcome of the negotiations being conducted by the European Commission with its South American partners.
The first clash of the Brazilian president-elect with the European Union occurred, given Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's anticipated intention to introduce modifications to the Mercosur/EU trade agreement, discussed for two decades.