A possible delay in the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU) could make the conclusion of the treaty viable, said this Thursday (18) the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad. According to the minister, more time is needed to clarify to European farmers that they will not be harmed.
“It’s worth insisting a little more on my perception. Because, first, there is no harm. There is no harm to Italian and French farmers. There is none,” said Haddad.
The statement was made at an afternoon coffee with journalists, before the European Commission officially announced the postponement of the signing of the agreement until January.
THE formalization of the agreement was scheduled for this Saturday (20), during the Mercosur summit in Foz do Iguaçu (PR), but faced resistance from European countries, especially France and Italy, due to pressure from farmers opposed to the pact.
In the coffee with journalists, Haddad said he sent a message to Macron highlighting that the agreement goes beyond the commercial aspect and has geopolitical relevance.
“What is at stake is an agreement of a political nature, with a clear signal to the world that we cannot return to an environment of tension between two closed blocs,” he stated.
According to the minister, there is no economic loss for French and Italian farmers, since the negotiated text provides for safeguards. He attributed some of the resistance to political exploitation of domestic sensitivities. “This does not correspond to the content of the agreement,” he said. Haddad assessed that, if Europeans need “a little time” to clarify the issue to public opinion, “it is worth waiting”.
Meloni
Earlier, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said he had spoken by telephone with the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. SAccording to Lula, she is not against the agreement, but faces internal political difficulties and asked for a period of up to a month to convince Italian farmers. “She asked for patience for a week, ten days, at most a month,” said the president.
France is one of the main opponents of the agreement and, in recent days, has articulated support from other countries to postpone the signing. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, informed European Union leaders that the formalization of the treaty has been postponed until January.
Negotiated more than two decades ago, the Mercosur–European Union agreement would create one of the largest free trade areas in the world, bringing together around 722 million consumers and a combined Gross Domestic Product of approximately US$22 trillion.
