France denies that it is blocking the EU-Mercosur agreement but reiterates its demand

France denies that it is blocking the EU-Mercosur agreement, whose ratification it has been vetoing since it was signed in 2019, but reiterates its demands to correct it and says it awaits the result of the negotiation that the European Commission is carrying out with its South American partners.

“We will evaluate the actions and the results on the merits”, stressed this Thursday the spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry at a press conference when asked about the issue.

Questioned about the possibility that France lift its blockade on the ratification of that free trade agreement signed in 2019, when Spain has announced its willingness to move it forward during its EU presidency in the second half of the year, the spokeswoman denied that Paris is blocking.

According to his version, what France is proposing, as its president, Emmanuel Macron, reminded him at the end of February, are “requirements”.

These demands -he added- imply compliance with the principles to avoid deforestation, respect for the Paris Agreements of 2015 to limit climate warming and that imported products comply with the health and environmental standards of the EU.

The European Commission is workingto obtain those guarantees from our Mercosur partners. The dialogue is underway. You have to see the result”, indicated the spokeswoman.

Those discussions between the two trading blocs were on the table at the latest summit of the leaders of the 27 European Union (EU) countries last week.

It was also one of the main issues addressed by the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, during her visit to Brazil at the beginning of February, where she was received in particular by the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

His department highlighted that during that visit Colonna expressed his “optimism” when noting that Lula and his Government “took a radically ambitious position” on climate issues and environmental protection.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchezindicated at the recent Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo that accelerating the EU-Mercosur agreement will be one of the priorities of his rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of the year.

Source: EFE