MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, December 21st 2024 - 12:35 UTC

Tag: European Union

  • Wednesday, June 14th 2023 - 09:12 UTC

    Fernández, von der Leyen discuss EU-Mercosur ties

    “We have a window of opportunity to conclude the agreement,” von der Leyen said in a post-meeting joint press conference.

    Argentine President Alberto Fernández met Tuesday at Casa Rosada with European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the South American country's trade relations with the European Union (EU), as well as the Mercosur-EU agreement ahead of next month's Summit with CELAC in Brussels.

  • Saturday, June 10th 2023 - 10:34 UTC

    French minister warns against rushing EU-Mercosur deal

    Brazil is currently “engaging in a strong energy transition” under Lula, Becht said

    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.

  • Monday, June 5th 2023 - 13:11 UTC

    EU farmers refuse to accept plans to restore drained peat-lands, taken over by agriculture

    Globally, peat-lands take up some 3% of the planet's land area — and yet, they absorb nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as all the Earth's forests combined

    European Union farmers and conservative lawmakers are up in arms against landmark nature legislation meant to bolster the bloc's green transition and prevent vital ecosystems and species from being wiped out due to climate change.

  • Monday, May 29th 2023 - 20:36 UTC

    UK marks one year without any imports of Russian gas

    Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We have led the world in standing up to Putin’s attempts to use energy as a weapon of war,”

    New figures published this week show the UK did not import any Russian gas in the 12 months to the end of March 2023, while UK gas exports to Europe tripled over the same period. The UK has gone a whole year without importing any Russian gas - a boost for the country’s energy security and a blow to Putin’s war machine.

  • Monday, May 29th 2023 - 20:31 UTC

    Germany in technical recession, Eurozone expects zero growth

    GDP fell by 0.3% for the quarter when adjusted for price and seasonal effects, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office, Destatis.

    Beware the European Union, Germany has entered technical recession. Germany's economy shrunk slightly in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the previous three months, data showed. A preliminary estimate had shown gross domestic product (GPD) stagnating at zero growth in the first quarter — meaning Germany would have narrowly escaped a recession.

  • Friday, May 26th 2023 - 09:59 UTC

    Lula pledges to defend SMEs in EU-Mercosur deal

    President Lula will not give in, even if it means taking a little longer to conclude the Mercosur-EU deal

    Regarding the European Union-Mercosur trade deal, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted that his government's purchases were “non-negotiable” and promised not to give in because it would entail killing ”the possibility of growth of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs).“ The Workers' Party leader also admitted that discrepancies on this point might delay the agreement ”a little longer.”

  • Monday, May 22nd 2023 - 10:29 UTC

    Finland connects nuclear plant to power grid; EU classifies nuclear as 'sustainable energy'

    The 1.6 Giga-watt (GW) reactor, built by the French-led Areva-Siemens consortium, had originally been due to open in 2009.

    Finland's long-delayed Olkiluoto-3 nuclear reactor connected to the power grid for the first time this month, the plant's operator said, 12 years after its planned launch. Located on Finland's west coast, Olkiluoto-3 is the country's first new nuclear plant in over four decades and Europe's first in almost 15 years.

  • Friday, May 19th 2023 - 10:56 UTC

    EU involved in talks with Argentina and Chile to ensure supplies of lithium

    It is estimated that demand for lithium of which Argentina and Chile are crucial suppliers will multiply by twelve by 2030 and twenty by 2050

    The European Union is working on agreements with Argentina and Chile with the purpose of increasing access to critical minerals such as lithium, essential for the batteries of electric automobiles and to comply with the EU's less carbon-intensive economy guidelines.

  • Friday, May 12th 2023 - 10:45 UTC

    Brazilian FM says EU's proposal too demanding for Mercosur-EU FTA

    The fulfillment of those environmental goals depends on the “climate conditions” and should not be open to sanctions, Vieira explained

    Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira Thursday said during an appearance before his country's Senatorial Foreign Relations Committee that the European Union's (EU) new environmental requirements for the Mercosur-EU agreement could cause “enormous damage” to the South American bloc.

  • Wednesday, May 3rd 2023 - 11:13 UTC

    Deforestation controversy: despite EU landmark legislation, Brazil will keep to its own legal system

    Former agriculture minister Roberto Rodriguez said the law amounted to a non-tariff trade barrier, calling it “exaggerated protectionism.”

    Brazil’s government said it could not interfere with a landmark EU law banning imports of commodities linked to deforestation but will keep farming according to its own laws. The law approved by the European Parliament on April 19 bans imports of coffee, beef, soy, palm oil, cocoa, rubber, wood, charcoal and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture if they are linked to forest destruction.