“We are not interested in agreements that condemn us to forever be exporters of raw materials, mineral products and oil.”Īrgentine president Alberto Fernandez echoed this point, saying: “No one can condemn us to be suppliers of the raw materials that others industrialize and then sell to us at exorbitant prices.”įernandez added the EU “presents us with a partial vision of sustainable development, focused excessively on the environmental” aspect. “Strategic partners do not negotiate on the basis of distrust and the threat of sanctions,” he told the meeting. The latest proposal, said Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, “is unacceptable.”
The EU has since proposed a “side letter” to the agreement with extra environmental requirements, rankling South American leaders who suspect protectionism was at work.Īt a two-day summit in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, Tuesday, Mercosur leaders hit back. Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay reached an agreement in principle with the 27-member European Union in 2019 after two decades of tough negotiations. Argentine President Alberto Fernandez (L) and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have spoken out against new conditions for an EU-Mercosur free trade deal - Copyright AFP NELSON ALMEIDAĪrgentina and Brazil, South America’s largest economies, took aim Tuesday at an “unacceptable” EU stance in negotiations with the Mercosur bloc for a free trade deal long delayed due to stated European environmental concerns.
0 kommentar(er)
