Brazil remains optimistic about EU deal

Despite the optimistic tone, Gisela Padovan, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, said the safeguards approved by the European Commission are a source of “concern.”

“The signal is one of confidence [that it will be signed],” the ambassador told reporters on Monday (15). According to her, if there were any “minor delay” in the signing, this would not initially be “a major problem.” “What matters to us is to close out 26 years of negotiations that are important for both sides,” she added.

Padovan said Brazil managed to include important elements in the agreement compared with the 2019 negotiations, especially in the areas of government procurement and intellectual property. “Brazil remains optimistic. We depend on the vote in the [European] Council, but we have signals that the idea is indeed to sign.”

That confidence stems in part from the fact that even if France and Poland oppose the agreement, it would still have a quorum for approval. There are, however, concerns over the safeguards that will be examined on Tuesday (16) by the European Parliament.

In practice, the new safeguards allow for the temporary suspension of tariff preferences on agricultural imports from Mercosur countries if those imports harm European Union producers. “I am familiar with the safeguards issue and I think it is something that deserves concern,” the ambassador said.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to travel to Foz do Iguaçu on Friday (19) to attend the Mercosur and Associated States Summit the following day. There is also an expectation that the agreement will be signed on that date. It has yet to be confirmed whether the Brazilian president will hold bilateral meetings, as his schedule will be tight.

According to the ambassador, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa are expected to attend. Mercosur heads of state are also expected to be present.

As reported by Valor, the Brazilian government sees no room for a months-long postponement of the signing of the Mercosur–European Union agreement. The federal administration’s assessment is that if the European Union delays the process until February or March, for example, new obstacles will continue to emerge that could prevent the trade deal from being finalized.

In the view of government sources, in a context of weakening multilateralism, failure to conclude the Mercosur–European Union agreement would send a negative signal, suggesting an inability to reach an understanding between two of the world’s largest economic blocs.