Jair Bolsonaro government members warned Europeans this week that unless a trade deal with Brazil is signed, they risk breaking agreements already reached in Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s eventual victory in October’s presidential election. .
After 20 years of negotiations, Brazil convinced Mercosur to sign trade agreements with different European blocs, but in 2019 one of these agreements was established between the European Union and Mercosur. Another agreement was signed between Mercosur and the European Free Trade Association to lower trade tariffs. This second bloc is made up of non-EU countries such as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
But for these agreements to come into effect, the parliaments of each country would have to ratify them. In the face of Jair Bolsonaro’s resistance to environmental policies and rapprochement with the Brazilian government, processes were frozen and hopes that the agreements would come into effect faded.
During his meeting with Swiss negotiators this week, representatives of the Bolsonaro government once again suggested that ratification should be accelerated because there would be no guarantees that the same understandings would be maintained in a final Lula government. Brazil’s proposal is that if the Europeans want to keep the terms of the deals as they are, they should close before the end of the year.
In one of the talks, members of the Brazilian government said that Europeans “fear” at the prospect of terminating already agreed agreements. But they were upset that at this time of year they won’t have more time.
In the preview of the PT’s government program, the section on foreign policy mentions neither of the two trade deals with the Europeans, although it clearly states that one of its goals will be the pursuit of partnership. The document published two weeks ago talks about the strengthening of Mercosur, Unasur and the BRICS.
However, part of the agriculture sector expressed disappointment with the deals signed by Mercosur, on the grounds that Brazil’s quotas for exports of meat and agricultural products were lower than expected.
Indigenous people will quote Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira at a meeting with Europeans
As the government pushes for approval, a delegation of indigenous Brazilians begins talks with European lawmakers on Tuesday. The aim is to pressure the European Parliament not to approve the deal with Mercosur while Bolsonaro is in power.
In addition, the group wants lawmakers to expand the environmental and defense needs of indigenous peoples in agreements with Brazil, even if the process gets back on track.
Lawyer Dinamam Tuxá, executive coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), also announced that the group will use examples of the journalist’s disappearances.
Dom Phillips and indigenous writer Bruno Pereira as a “reflection” of the elimination of environmental and indigenous policy by the Jair Bolsonaro government.
In his view, ratification of the treaty will “accelerate deforestation” and nothing in the current structure guarantees the protection of indigenous peoples.
The lawyer also insisted that if Europe adopts barriers to deforestation products, indigenous peoples want the deal to deal not only with the Amazon but also with goods produced in Cerrado, the Atlantic Forest and other biomes.
Before arriving in the European capital, locals were still with the French Chancellor, reinforcing the same message. Paris will head the European bloc until the end of the term.
source: Noticias
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