Von Der Leyen, Lula Discuss EU-MERCOSUR Agreement
The two leaders met during the G20 summit in Rio
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at one of the meetings scheduled on the sidelines of the ongoing G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
CNN Brazil reports that a free trade agreement between the European Union and MERCOSUR, the South American free trade zone, was also discussed at the event. An agreement that was discussed for years but never finalized.
In any case, it is unlikely that significant steps forward have been taken, in part because the traditional hostility of France, which fears the entry of cheap agricultural products, will now be matched by that of Argentina.
President Emmanuel Macron recently confirmed that France will not sign any agreement under the current terms. “France is opposed to this agreement,” Macron explained, as reported by Italian news agency Agenzia Nova, “I also tell you that President Milei himself has expressed to me his dissatisfaction, because for Argentina it would be negative in terms of its industrialization, and for us it would be very negative in terms of agriculture.”
At the end of the meeting between Lula and von der Leyen, the president of the EU executive commented through X, but did not add much detail: “I thank you for your leadership Lula, the world had to come together. You did it in Rio. Europe fully supports your Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. We also discussed the EU-MERCOSUR agreement, which carries great economic and strategic importance.”
In short, no breakthroughs are seen on the horizon, but negotiations continue: in the coming days in Brasilia, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, new negotiations will be held between the EU and MERCOSUR representatives.
