Argentina considers that the conditions are not yet met to sign the Mercosur-EU agreement

He argentine government considered this Sunday that the conditions are not yet in place to sign the delayed free trade agreement between the Mercosur and the European Union, that Brazil and the European presidency they hoped to finalize before the end of the year.

Both the outgoing president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, and his chancellor, Santiago Cafiero, who will hand over their positions on December 10 when the ultraliberal Javier Milei takes office, indicated that the signing of the pact is not yet possible in the current version of the text.

Fernández reiterated that he considers the agreement positive. “Geopolitically it is correct” and you would like “sign it.” But first they must be established “certain conditions that allow us to sustain and grow our industries“, he stated in a radio interview reproduced by the official Télam agency.

“I want to discuss something that is useful to Argentines,” he concluded.

Fernández will participate on Thursday in a summit of Mercosur presidents, his last international event before leaving the Casa Rosada. And the expectation of Brazil – pro tempore president of the bloc made up of Paraguay and Uruguay – and of the presidency of the EU, was that the event to be held in Rio de Janeiro could be conducive to closing an agreement that has been in place for more than 20 years. years of negotiations.

Demands and divergences

Cafiero stated in an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nación this Sunday that his country would not sign the pact this week, destroying the expectations raised by the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Uruguayan Luis Lacalle Pou, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“The talks will continue and a lot of work has been done, but the conditions are not met to sign the agreement,” Cafiero emphasized.

The treaty, whose negotiations concluded in 2019 but which later collided with new differences between the parties, “has a negative impact on the industry Mercosurwithout reporting benefits in return for their agricultural exports, which are limited by very restrictive quotas and subject to unilateral environmental regulations that expose them to future vulnerability.”Cafiero explained bluntly.

On Friday, Lula stated on the social network X from COP28 in Dubai that Mercosur and the European Union were “close to closing” the FTA.

Lula met on the sidelines of the environmental summit with Von der Leyen and with the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, in charge of the presidency of the EU Council.

The Brazilian president and Von der Leyen agreed that “There were significant advances in the meetings between the technical teams of the two sides” in recent days, the Brazilian Presidency said in a statement.

“The EU is committed to closing this agreement”stated Von der Leyen in X, along with a photo with the Brazilian leader.

Sánchez held the meeting on the same network “to give political impetus to the agreement”which will be a step “historical”.

The same Friday, the Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, said that he hoped “good news” on the subject in Rio de Janeiro.

But the new environmental rules adopted by the European Union in 2019 mean “Already today higher costs and restrictions for Mercosur exports of food and other products”said Cafiero, about this “Green Deal” European Union that became a stumbling block in the block-to-block negotiations, amid strong criticism from Brazil.

Mercosur rejected the “green protectionism” and responded with its own demands, such as the creation of an environmental fund to support developing countries.

The elected president of Argentina has shown himself in favor of closing the FTA. But Cafiero’s statements reflect a position that Argentina has defended for years and are known after French President Emmanuel Macron also put a stop to optimism on Saturday.

Macron, who met with Lula in Dubai, announced that he will travel to Brazil in March, precisely to discuss the EU-Mercosur agreement, which he questioned in its current form.

This agreement is “completely contradictory” with which President Lula “is doing in Brazil”, stated the French president. The pact “does not take into account the biodiversity and the climate” and is reduced to a “badly patched” agreement, which “dismantles the tariffs” as was done before, he alleged.

“Each country has the right to have its own position. It has always been more difficult to reach an agreement with France because it is more protectionist. “The European Union does not have the same position,” Lula said.