Mattarella – Lula Meeting: “Accelerate EU – MERCOSUR Agreement.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received Italian President Sergio Mattarella on July 15 at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia. The Italian President had not been on a state visit to Brazil for 24 years, and this was an opportunity to sign some cooperation agreements and discuss the future of the yet to be ratified agreement between the European Union and MERCOSUR.

“It is a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to reciprocate the hospitality with which I was received in Italy by President Mattarella last year. This visit represents the culmination of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian immigration, which forever made the paths of our countries inseparable,” Lula explained after the bilateral meeting. “Italy, as host country of FAO and the World Food Program, has invited Brazil to participate in the G7 Working Group on Food Security. I reciprocated the trust by inviting Italy to join the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty that we will establish in Brazil on the occasion of the G20 Summit.”

Mattarella reciprocated the reception by explaining: “Together, we have witnessed excellent progress in our bilateral relations, which is a source of great satisfaction.” The Italian President also expressed his desire to expand cooperation between the two countries in the fields of trade, culture, and technology.

And this is where the agreement comes in, which is not about bilateral arrangements, but about the broader context of the European Union and MERCOSUR. An agreement that has “historic significance, guarantees and promotes peace, and serves to benefit the entire world. We need to come to an agreement quickly,” Mattarella explained. But as we know, there are various concerns, from the protectionist impulses of some European agri-food sectors to the carbon tax that worries South American exporters: “The course of the negotiations,” Lula said bluntly, as reported by the Italian economic newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, “depends on the Europeans, who must resolve their internal contradictions. Measures such as the carbon tax imposed unilaterally by the EU could affect 5 of the 10 most exported Brazilian products to the Italian market; reducing CO₂ emissions is imperative, but it should not be done on the basis of unilateral measures.”

The talk then turned to possible new investments by Stellantis in the country, and Lula cited ENEL’s maximum investment of more than $2 billion reals in the Aroeira wind farm in Bahia as an example of profitable cooperation.

Finally, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza were discussed. First, Mattarella emphasized the need for a “just peace,” while Lula emphasized that “Kiev and the conflict in Gaza demonstrate that abandoning dialogue and diplomacy leads to disastrous consequences.” Both finally agreed that the world “needs peace” and that a two-state solution is the only viable way to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine.