Bolsonaro’s Secretary of Foreign Trade criticizes the text announced by the 2 blocks for being more protectionist than the 2019 version
The conclusion of negotiations for the agreement between the EU (European Union) and Mercosur, on December 6, 2024, resulted in a worse text than what existed in 2019, says economist and sociologist Marcos Troyjo, 58 years old.
Troyjo participated in the negotiations on the previous text. He was Secretary of Foreign Trade of the government of (PL) from 2019 to 2020. He was president of the NDB (New Development Bank in Portuguese, the Brics Bank) from 2020 to 2023.
In March 2023, President (PT) (PT) to replace Troyjo, who would have a mandate until 2025.
Watch the interview (44min):
In Troyjo’s assessment, the current government “it was naive” when doing in the environmental area. In return, it gained protection for local suppliers for government purchases.
Troyjo also says that protecting local suppliers is negative. According to the previous proposal, he assesses, Mercosur governments could buy cheaper products.
Manufacturers of industrial products from Mercosur could participate in tenders in Europe. They would need to strive to be more competitive, which, says Troyjo, would also be positive.
The former president of the Brics Bank assesses that Donald Trump’s new government in the USA will be economically favorable to Brazil.
Below are excerpts about the EU-Mercosur agreement in the interview.
- 2019 agreement – “At the end of June 2019, a comprehensive, modern agreement, well-established from an environmental point of view, with a democratic clause. [Em outubro de 2019] There was something bad for the progress of this process: that of Alberto Fernández in Argentina. [Ele disse] that the agreement [acabaria]with industry. This gave an opportunity to those in Europe who were against the agreement, such as France and Poland. There was the entire period [da pandemia]. Then, the elections in Brazil. Many French critics of President Bolsonaro’s administration found an opportunity to reopen negotiations”;
- government purchases – “The current Brazilian government was naive. It ended up giving the Europeans the chance to get new versions of the chapter on the environment in exchange for Brazil asking for something in return, removing government purchases from the version of the final agreement, which is very bad. [A versão anterior] it increased Brazil’s ability to participate in government procurement competitions from other countries.[Resultaria no Brasil em] greater transparency, competition, better prices”;
- WTO and OECD – [O então ministro da Economia] Paulo Guedes was very clear: we are going to competitively insert the Brazilian economy into this part of government purchases through the EU-Mercosur agreement. [O Brasil] becomes part of the World Trade Organization’s government purchasing agreement [OMC] e advances the agenda to become full member of the OECD [Organização para a Cooperação e o Desenvolvimento Econômico]. [O novo governo] removed government purchases from the EU-Mercosur agreement, left the WTO agreement and practically abandoned the path towards the OECD. We are kind of on the margins of what seems to be a keynote of successful economies”;
- push for Trump’s election – “There was the announcement of a text that is less ambitious, less comprehensive. And much of this became possible due to the arrival of a new factor on the board, which was the fact that [Donald] Trump the November elections in the USA. The Europeans are wanting to gain muscle for difficult dialogues that will take place from January onwards. This provided an additional stimulus to the conclusion of negotiations”;
- environmental requirements – “The environmental chapter was resolved in 2019. We had all the guarantees, for example, that the participants in the agreement would have to observe that set of ideas and commitments that are part of the so-called Paris Agreement. We cannot have any innocence, naivety about this. Many Europeans use environmental discourse as a mask behind which are heavy interests of market reserve and very expensive subsidies”;
- chances of approval – “I think these are real chances because the EU today faces fierce competition in Southeast Asia. There is probably coming a time of more difficulty in European interests with the USA. So it makes sense to gain scale by associating with a region that has 250 million inhabitants, like Mercosur. There is a lot of complementarity. But another cool thing about these agreements is that they are a great investment promoter. I think this is good for everyone. I hope everything happens very quickly. [Caso haja] a protectionist escalation from the North American economy and the Chinese economy, I think the Europeans will have less resistance. [Mas] sand they see alternative channels and a new phase of globalization in which their interests can be remunerated, then I think that many of the countries, such as France, Poland, Austria, will remain standing and will create difficulties”.
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