French President Emmanuel Macron told Brazilian leaders on Wednesday that the proposed deal between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur is bad for both sides, according to Le Monde.
Speaking at a forum in Sao Paulo, Macron said the Mercosur-EU agreement is outdated and needs to be reworked to take climate change into account.
“The trade deal with Mercosur as it is being negotiated now is a terrible deal. For you and for us,” Macron said. The president’s words reinforced his opposition, which has been the most outspoken among European leaders.
Macron opposes any agreement until South American producers meet the same environmental and sanitary standards as Europeans. Farmers raised concerns about pesticides during protests across Europe earlier this year. The French president did not mention the topic at the start of his three-day visit to Brazil, during a busy schedule in the Amazon city of Belem with his counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but his office said before the trip that a potential deal would not be on the agenda.
“This deal, as it is, I don’t defend it,” the French president said, with Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin sitting in the audience.
Alckmin did not mention the talks in his speech, but mentioned them, noting the importance of reciprocity, which will lead to an open and free market. Despite this, some Brazilian economists insist that the EU is not open enough to Mercosur goods.
On Tuesday, Lula and Macron announced a plan to invest 1 billion euros in the Amazon, to be distributed over the next four years to protect the rainforest. This will be the outcome of co-operation between Brazil’s state-owned banks and France’s investment agency.
