According to the head of Strategic Affairs at ApexBrasil Europe and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, there were objections regarding the ‘sustainability’ of the agreement at that time.
The head of Strategic Affairs at ApexBrasil Europe and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aloysio Nunes, stated in an interview published by the organization itself this Friday (9), that negotiations were delayed during Jair Bolsonaro’s government. “In the Bolsonaro government, when the agreement had practically concluded its negotiation, there was a major objection from the European Union in relation to sustainability, because the Bolsonaro government, having dismantled the entire framework that existed in relation to environmental protection in Brazil, in addition to dismantling the protection of original peoples, labor rules, this led to objections from the European Union about the sustainability of our production”, he stated.
According to the former minister, the Manufacturing sector should be the first to benefit from the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. Regarding tariffs, Nunes stated that they will be “progressively eliminated”. “In relation to some of our exports that come from agribusiness, they are subject to quotas. Especially beef, chicken and ethanol”, he explained. “The European Union will continue to import Brazilian meat, even if paying a higher tariff,” he stated.
The chief also said that there was a certain resistance from sectors of Brazilian politics regarding the agreement that Brazil would be “denying Brazil’s natural inclination to have a greater presence and prioritize relations with less developed countries in the south”.
“These arguments were dismissed over time. The industry understood that it was also interested in importing industrial inputs at a reduced tariff, which would increase its productivity. This was a process of convincing over time”, he said.
Aloysio also stated that the agreement should be “extremely positive” for Brazil and will attract more European investment in the country. “The agreement is excellent when both sides lose a little, and we will gain a lot, even if there are restrictions on some items of our imports. We will gain in predictability, we will reduce bureaucracy. We will adapt to consumption patterns that are observed in the EU and will, in a certain way, give a “seal of quality” to Brazilian exports”, he stated.
