The meeting between negotiators would take place in Brasilia in September
Mercosur and European Union (EU) negotiators will meet in Brasilia between 4 and 6 September for the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries since last April, Brazilian official sources reported on Tuesday.
Technical negotiations between the two blocs, which have been discussing a trade agreement for two decades, have not stopped at any point, said a source from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.
The trade blocs reached an agreement in principle in 2019, but final discussions stalled due to new environmental requirements introduced last year by a group of European countries, which Mercosur considers protectionist.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been one of the most critical authorities of the terms of the agreement, considering it to be “obsolete” because it does not include measures to protect the environment.
Macron has criticised the alleged advantages that the agreement would offer to farmers in South American countries, pointing out that environmental legislation in these countries is less restrictive than that in Europe.
However, governments in countries such as Spain and Brazil have reiterated that negotiations are continuing and could lead to an agreement this year.
Last June, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said that Macron himself, during a meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the recent G7 summit in Italy, suggested that he might “re-examine” the matter.
