EU-Brazil Fin Min: Mercosur-EU FTA On Agenda, But Depends On Europeans

Wires carrying comments from Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad stating that a 'Mercosur-EU trade agreement is on the president's agenda, but it depends more on the Europeans than on us.' A prospective FTA between the South American Mercosur bloc and the EU has been worked on since 2000, with an agreement in principle reached in 2019. Meetings between officials from each side have intensified in recent weeks.

• There is seen to be a narrow window of opportunity in finalising a deal ahead of the autumn general election in Argentina and the spring 2024 EU parliament elections, both of which will likely serve to shut down any notable developments.
• Speaking at the International Agricultural Show in Paris in Feb, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that “An agreement with the countries of the Latin American continent is not possible if they do not respect the Paris agreements, as we do, and if they do not respect the same environmental and sanitary constraints that we impose on our producers,”
• There are also concerns in the EU that Brazil and Argentina could push for protectionist measures that would see the deal shot down during the ratification process by EU member state parliaments.