“If not now, there is nothing left to negotiate”, says Vieira about the Mercosur-EU agreement

The Minister of Foreign Affairs (MRE), Mauro Vieira, participated this Thursday (18) in the program Good morning, Ministerand spoke about the finalization of the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU).

The expectation is that the countries of the European Council will approve the measure by Friday (19), which would allow the final agreement to be signed during the Mercosur summit, in Foz do Iguaçu, on Saturday (20).

According to the minister, reiterating what President Lula said, there will be nothing more to be done if the agreement is not formalized at the end of the year.

“If it is not concluded now, there is nothing left to negotiate in substantive terms. And we will direct our attention and energies to other important partners who are in line,” said Vieira.

The minister highlights that the agreement is also very important for the EU, especially given the current imbalance in global external relations.

“An attack on multilateralism, an attack on institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), and this agreement will create a kind of protection network for the countries of the European Union and Mercosur, strengthening their relations with a much better legal basis, since the WTO is being attacked and bombed, this way it will protect us all”, he explained.

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The trade agreement between the blocs involves 720 million inhabitants in the two regions and a total GDP of around 22 trillion dollars: “The European Union is Brazil’s second largest trading partner, sometimes it is the third, it varies according to the year, therefore, it is a very important partner”, he stressed.

In the chancellor’s understanding, of the 27 EU countries between 20 and 22 are completely in favor of membership, including Spain, Portugal and Germany.

“There are two countries that are large, important and that need to reflect a little on the requests and positions of their agricultural sectors”, he indicated in relation to France and Italy, the two main opponents.

Despite there being only two countries, their positions count a lot, since the weight of the populations matters within the bloc in the decision. France (15.2%) and Italy (13.1%), together with Poland (8.1%), another opponent, already account for more than 35% of the population, which is enough to prevent the agreement.

If the deal between the blocks really does not continue, Vieira reveals that the direction will be to look for other negotiations that already have a list of interested parties in getting closer to Mercosur.

“This year we concluded an agreement with EFTA, the European Free Trade Association, which includes Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. And if we sign with the European Union we will have coverage of practically all of Europe in these two agreements. Now, in addition to them, we have recently signed with Singapore and there are a large number of countries that have already shown interest. Canada, the United Kingdom and countries in the East. In Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, there is a huge group of countries that want to conclude free trade agreements with the Mercosur and others who want to update. For example, India signed it more than 20 years ago, it was in President Lula’s first year in office, in 2003. Therefore, 22 years ago an agreement was signed with India, but made at another stage of development, still limited. Now there is an interest in negotiating the expansion to a greater number of products”, revealed the minister, also including Japan among those interested.

Venezuela

Regarding the tension between the United States and Venezuela, the minister highlighted that he is closely monitoring the situation. As he explains, Brazil maintains excellent relations with the Caribbean country, classified as an important trading partner and in which they share 2,200 km of border within the Amazon.

In his assessment, there are many Brazilian businesspeople who are interested in investing and increasing trade with Venezuela, which holds the world’s largest reserves of oil and several other critical minerals.

“There are a very large number of Venezuelans living in Brazil, around 500 thousand. And there are 20 thousand Brazilians living in Venezuela. We are all part of this space of peace and cooperation that is South America. President Lula, both times he spoke with President Trump by phone, referred to Venezuela and said that our region is a region of peace and cooperation and that Brazil will always be ready to facilitate dialogue and bring the parties together so that a solution can be reached”, he pointed out. Vieira.

“It is a matter of concern for everyone and Brazil wants to facilitate this dialogue, these contact initiatives, promote contact initiatives that can lead to understanding and negotiation”, added the chancellor, stating that he hopes that the US actions are effectively to curb drug trafficking and do not go beyond that point.