The mere approval of the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur in all the parliaments involved should take three years. The long-term perspective, however, is that implementation will result in greater regulatory stability and attraction of more investments to Brazil, highlights the lawyer specializing in international trade, Welber Barral.
This Friday afternoon (9), paving the way for the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to sign the treaty next week, in Paraguay.
“The agreement has several advantages for Brazil, not only access to a premium market but also a large one. But in addition, the attraction of investments and regulatory stability, providing predictability for investments and trade. The agreement is a great victory, it has a long implementation”, says Barral, who was Secretary of Foreign Trade of Brazil between 2008 and 2011.
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After signing the agreement, scheduled for next week, the European Parliament votes to approve the treaty. And, in South America, Mercosur members must ratify the proposal in their congresses. Barral explains that the vote by MEPs could take a year, while the deadline considering votes in Latin American parliaments could take up to three years.
Furthermore, says Barral, some sections of the agreement that go beyond trade policy will still need to be voted on in the national parliaments of EU members, following each country’s procedures.
In the European Union, the agreement is strongly opposed led by France, which together with Ireland, Poland and Hungary, voted against approval. An alternative to delaying the process would be a new request for judicialization of the proposal at the EU Court of Justice, already rejected in December by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.
To attract the support of Italy, until this week a kind of “balance” for the approval of the agreement, negotiators made concessions to the European agribusiness sector. There was consensus to bring forward around 45 billion euros in resources from the Common Agricultural Policy from 2028.
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“The concessions were largely in the area of agricultural subsidies. The more than 45 billion in subsidies for Europeans are medium-term and impact their own budgets, while the agreement takes time to come into force and should be valid for several decades”, points out Barral.
Business groups, on the other hand, celebrated the agreement. In conversation with the InfoMoneythe president of the France Brazil Chamber of Commerce said that countries should take advantage of the opportunity for trade openness promoted by the agreement. “We are enthusiastic about this integration and, therefore, enthusiastic about ratifying this agreement”, he says.
