The head of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) praised the new Portuguese president of the European Council, as the EU and Mercosur (continued) negotiate a trade deal between the two blocs. “This agreement is a victory for the EU and Mercosur,” says the Brazilian official. France has been the main enemy.
Brasilia welcomes the arrival of Antonio Costa as President of the Council of Europe. On the other side of the Atlantic, the former prime minister is seen as a privileged interlocutor for Brazil at the heart of Europe.
“Former Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s move to the European Union seat of power created very positive expectations in Brazil,” the head of the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) told Jornal Economico (JE). “This is great news,” he insisted.
Jorge Viana answered a question about the Mercosur agreement, which has been negotiated between the European Union and South American countries for more than two decades. “Brazil, during the mandate of President Lula, established the EU Mercosur agreement as a central issue, in better relations with Europe,” he said in an interview with JE, which will be developed in the weekend edition, which will be published on the 27th. The month of September.
“This agreement has been trying for 20 years and there is no reason why it should not happen. President Lula has already spoken with many leaders, such as Germany, and with leaders in the European Union. Apart from France, we see that many countries understand that they have problems at home and have a good will to reach this agreement. We We are talking about the largest economic group in the world, 700 million people”, he said of Mercosur, whose members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The official considers the deal “strategic”. “Join A very interesting consumption space, you have the quality of life that, together with the European Union, Mercosur countries, are responsible for food security for the most important part of the world”, he maintains.
“This deal is a win-win. A win-win for the EU and a win-win for the Mercosur countries. “Now is the chance,” he argued.
ApexBrasil will open its own location in Lisbon’s Casa do Brasil, Avenida da Libertad area, where the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebre) and the Brazilian International Promotion Agency (Embradur) will be located. , the Osvaldo Cruz Foundation (FioCruz, the Brazilian Institute for Science, Technology and Innovation in Biological and Health Sciences) and Banco do Brasil. The space is scheduled to open in 2025 and will also have a cultural space for exhibitions and events.
He said the project “receives a very good will from the current Portuguese government, because it is something interesting for Portugal and Brazil, and we can have an increasingly close relationship with Portugal, which can reach the Portuguese-language community in the CPLP. There is a strong Brazilian presence in Europe.”
Last week, Lula da Silva highlighted the difficulties of reaching an agreement. “They spent 30 years saying they didn’t want to do the Brazil deal. We have decided, we have a proposal, do not make another argument that they will make the agreement difficult”, said the Brazilian President in Brasilia.
An obstacle to the implementation of the EU’s deforestation law, which will come into effect on January 1, 2025. According to the Brazilian government, the law could result in a loss of $15 billion for Brazilian product exports of soy, coffee, cocoa and forestry products.
One of the biggest critics of the deal was France and the Galician president was very vocal in his criticism. “Mercosur is a terrible agreement that is being negotiated now. This agreement was negotiated 20 years ago. I do not defend it, it is not what we want. Let’s put this agreement aside and create a new, more responsible one that takes into account issues like climate and reciprocity,” said Emmanuel Macron. , said in March, during a trip to Brazil.
Negotiations have been ongoing since 1999 and aim to ease trade between the two continents and reduce tariffs, but 25 years later no agreement has yet been reached. France blocked the deal in 2019 at a time when Macron and Bolsonaro were at open war.
Emmanuel Macron is under pressure from the powerful French agriculture sector, which feels threatened by a deal to open the EU’s doors to agricultural products from South America.
Earlier this month, the Portuguese government, along with several European countries, put pressure on Ursula van der Leyen to “quickly conclude negotiations” by the end of the year, “Lusa” reported.