At this extremely turbulent start to 2026, the leaders of the European Union and Brazil wanted to proclaim that they are in absolute harmony regarding the defense of multilateralism and have highlighted the prosperity that it will bring to both sides of the Atlantic. The president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Lyen, met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Rio de Janeiro this Friday, before participating on Saturday in Paraguay in the solemn signing of the pact that has been in the making for 25 years. Von del Leyen announced in the joint appearance that “Europe and Brazil are moving towards a very important political agreement on critical raw materials.”
Brazil is a key producer of critical minerals. It has about 10% of the world’s reserves, according to data from the Brazilian Mining Institute. The representative of the EU explained that the agreement they are negotiating will be the framework for bilateral cooperation “in joint investment projects in lithium, nickel and rare earths”, materials, she stressed, essential for the digital and ecological transition. Expanding the focus to geopolitics, the German added that “for our strategic independence in a world where minerals tend to become an instrument of coercion.”
The president of the European Council, António Costa, added at the end of the afternoon, in a press conference in Rio, that the vice-president of the Commission Stéphane Séjourne will soon travel to Brazil for contacts on critical materials.
“Tomorrow in Asunción, the European Union and Mercosur will make history by creating one of the largest free trade zones in the world, which will bring together some 720 million people and a GDP of more than 22 trillion dollars,” Lula emphasized. The two leaders have exhibited great complicity in an appearance without questions that was followed by a lunch at the Itamaraty Palace in Rio de Janeiro, which housed the chancellery until the capital was .
President Lula has invested notable effort and political capital to close this pact with the EU. And his guest has publicly highlighted that role in closing the agreement. “The political leadership, personal commitment and passion that you have shown in recent weeks and months, dear President Lula, are truly unmatched,” Von der Leyen stressed before thanking the Brazilian president “for his skillful leadership during the negotiations and for achieving this historic agreement.” Costa later detailed what Lula’s valuable contribution is in the eyes of the EU. “During the Brazilian presidency [de Mercosur] All agreements were closed and many of the requests made by some member states, such as France, were satisfied so that the agreement was acceptable, always with an enormous effort by President Lula.”
The Brazilian president has decided not to participate this Saturday, in Asunción, in the ceremony in which the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay will sign the agreement with Von der Leyen and Costa, the president of the European Council. Yes, the rest of the presidents of the South American bloc will attend. The president of the European Commission has emphasized that she considered it important to come to Rio to visit Lula first.
Diplomatic sources point out that the Brazilian and the German held a meeting in July 2023 in Brussels, within the framework of a CELAC-EU summit, which was crucial to get the negotiations back on track and find ways to overcome the obstacles that hindered the completion of an agreement that has yet to be ratified both in Europe and in the Mercosur countries. Both leaders have urged that the next steps be taken soon so that it comes into force as soon as possible.
Trump’s tariff war created the political opportunity to overcome the last obstacles. “This Association agreement transcends the economic dimension,” Lula stressed. “The European Union and Mercosur share values such as respect for democracy, the rule of law and human rights.” It is capital for both blocks to diversify their trade relations in the face of the tariff war launched by Donald Trump last year. Brazil, Lula recalled, has closed free trade agreements this year with the EU, with the EFTA (the bloc made up of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and with Singapore.
The bombing and tutelage of Venezuela for , Trump’s threats to seize Greenland—that is, an attack on a NATO partner—have given even greater urgency to the need to strengthen relations with partners that defend multilateralism and international law. For Von der Leyen, this agreement sends a clear message that both blocks “want a world that works based on trust and teamwork.”
While Trump makes it clear that the only limit to his actions is his own morality, Lula and Von der Leyen value shared values. For Lula, the US attack against Venezuela represents “a very serious precedent against the entire international community.” It is an idea that he has repeated publicly since the day of the attack.
For Brazilian diplomacy, which his country promoted after the Second World War, it represents “a global threat.” Brazil seeks the complicity of the European Union in its campaign to defend the UN, multilateralism and dialogue as the most effective instruments, despite their imperfections, to resolve international conflicts or combat climate change. Brazilian diplomacy has a deep-rooted tradition of non-alignment, a balance that is difficult to maintain in an increasingly turbulent world with two opposing superpowers that are, in turn, its main trading partners. This Wednesday, Lula spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as he did last week with several American leaders and with the Spanish Pedro Sánchez.
That the president of the Commission makes an official visit to Lula in Brazil en route to the signing in Paraguay contributes to projecting the Brazilian president as a leader with international weight at the start of an electoral year in Brazil.
If three years ago, it led him to make the defense of democracy one of the pillars of his campaign, this time, thanks to Trump, the defense of sovereignty is emerging as one of his flags. Brazil is still negotiating with Washington to completely withdraw the extra tariffs it imposed in August. That is why he needs to maintain a delicate balance between defending his principles, warning of the threat posed by Trump but without unleashing the magnate’s fury.
