France, adamant in its opposition to the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement

France inflexibly maintains its rejection of the ratification of the free trade agreement EU-mercosur unless changes are included at an environmental level and the calls “mirror clauses”, sources from the Élysée indicated this Thursday.

Four days before the start of the EU-Celac summit in Brussels, on the margins of which this trade agreement will undoubtedly be discussed, France maintains its “very clear” position that has remained unchanged since 2019, an Élysée source said on Thursday.

“mercosur you need to define your position”, added the source, who stressed that France is “extremely demanding” in the trade agreements finalized by the European Union so that international climate objectives and principles are incorporated, as has been done with the recently signed agreement with New Zealand.

For the French Government, there are also reasons for “justice”, so that the producers of the countries with which trade agreements are closed “are subject to the same rules as the producers” of the European Union with the so-called mirror clauses.

Also, there is a question of “policy coherence”, especially at an environmental level. “We cannot organize summits on biodiversity and climate change, on the one hand, and on the other close agreements that do not respect those criteria.”, stressed the Élysée.

The countries of mercosur -added- “they understand it and that is why there are negotiations”.

In any case, he recalled that Argentina is immersed in the pre-campaign for the presidential elections on October 22, 2023 and that we will have to wait for the formation of the new Government in Buenos Aires to see what position it adopts on this issue.

The French presidential source insisted that Paris maintains a high-level dialogue with the Latin American and Caribbean region, especially with Brazil, which is also a member of Mercosur.

Brazil has a special demographic and economic weight in the region, and the return to power of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has helped a lot.

The improvement in Paris-Brasilia relations, with several visits by French ministers in recent months, comes after the strong disagreements between France and the previous government of Jair Bolsonaro, especially over the protection of the Amazon.

Dissensions that sometimes came in the form of personal invectives to President Emmanuel Macron.

at the top of EU-Celac Next Monday and Tuesday in Brussels, Macron will hold bilateral meetings with the presidents of Haiti and Suriname, this being the first meeting between two leaders of both countries.

The political crises in Venezuela and Haiti, as well as the deterioration of the human rights situation in Nicaragua, will be other issues that will be discussed, according to the Elysee.

Besides, France He hopes that all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean show their support for Ukraine, at least with a mention in the final declaration that denounces the violation of international law caused by the Russian invasion of February 2022.

Source: EFE