The EU and Mercosur countries reached a political understanding this Friday for what will be the largest trade and investment agreement in the world
The President of the European Council, António Costa, welcomed this Friday the political agreement between the European Union (EU) and the countries of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) on a trade and investment protocol, speaking of a “very important achievement” .
“I congratulate the European Commission for the agreement reached with the Mercosur countries. This is a very important achievement”, reacted António Costa, in a post on the social network X.
Reacting to the announcement of political consensus, which allows the conclusion of negotiations on the partnership agreement between the European and Latin American blocs, the leader of the institution that brings together the EU heads of government and state said: “Member States will now evaluate it [ao acordo político] and make a decision.”
Still, for António Costa, “trade is positive for Europe”. “It’s good for competitiveness and employment, it’s good for our place in the world, it’s good for our citizens,” he said.
This Friday, the EU and the Mercosur countries reached a political understanding for what will be the largest trade and investment agreement in the world, which will serve a market of 700 million consumers, within the scope of strengthening geopolitical, economic, sustainability and security.
After the agreement, the document will be verified and translated, and then the European Commission, which has the competence to negotiate EU trade policy, will present a proposal to the Council and Parliament for signature and conclusion.
The decision is then up to EU countries (in the Council) and MEPs (in the European assembly).
The text of the EU-Mercosur association agreement was finalized in 2019, after 20 years of negotiations, but the community bloc has been asking for more guarantees from Latin American countries that they will respect the Paris Agreement and international labor legislation.
After this first approval in 2019 was not followed up, the EU and Mercosur have maintained regular contact, which in recent weeks has moved from the technical to the political level and has allowed negotiations to be concluded today, particularly on issues such as environmental commitments (in relation to the Amazon ).
The EU-Mercosur agreement covers the 27 EU Member States plus Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, equivalent to 25% of the global economy and 780 million people, almost 10% of the world’s population.
In the EU, France has been leading the opposition to this partnership with Mercosur due to biodiversity and climate issues and also commercial fears, with the latter being shared by other European countries.
The European Commission wanted to move forward with the agreement in recent weeks, hand in hand with the majority of EU countries, and in particular Germany and Spain, at a time of great political weakness for the French President, Emmanuel Macron, in the face of the political crisis. that his country is experiencing, with the fall of Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government on Wednesday due to a motion of censure supported by the left and the extreme right.
In a joint statement published in the meantime, the European Commission and the Mercosur countries, who met today in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, emphasize that they are “committed […] in an intense negotiation process, with the aim of adjusting the agreement to the challenges faced at national, regional and global level”.
“Both blocks are determined to carry out these activities in the coming months, with a view to the future signing of the agreement”, they conclude.
