Brazil trusts that the Mercosur-EU agreement can be closed in February

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of BrazilMauro Vieira, insisted this Wednesday that the negotiation between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) remains open and said that the trade agreement between both blocks could be concluded in February 2024.

“We are still talking to find a solution” and ““negotiations continue,” declared the chancellor during an appearance before the Foreign Relations commission of the Chamber of Deputies.

Vieira clarified that on December 7, when the Summit of the Mercosur and the possible conclusion of the agreement was expected to be announced, it did not mean “a fatal deadline” for contacts, which have continued since then.

Still, he suggested that the dialogue between the EU and the bloc made up of ArgentinaBrazil, Uruguay and Paraguay will continue at least until mid-next February, then “the electoral process will begin” for the European Parliament, which will make contacts difficult.

In this context, he considered that this year “A lot of progress has been made” in the negotiation, which opens a door for a possible conclusion of the agreement in the first weeks of 2024, despite the fact that Paraguay, which now holds the semiannual presidency of Mercosur, has already said that it will not give priority to these negotiations.

Vieira explained that the biggest obstacles continue to exist in the environmental section and attributed the persistence of these disagreements to “four or five countries” of the EU, “traditionally known as protectionists.”

Although he did not mention those countries, it was a clear allusion to a group led by France, whose president, Emmanuel Macronreaffirmed its opposition to the agreement with Mercosur days before the summit of the South American bloc and thus buried the possibility of concluding it this year.

According to the Brazilian chancellor, just as obstacles remain on environmental issues, “A lot of progress has been made” in the chapter on government purchases, which Mercosur had asked to review.

Although he did not give many details, Vieira assured that public purchases would be “protected for sovereign decisions” of the Mercosur partners, through certain limitations on the participation of European companies in these operations.