> Brazil’s President Lula struck a tougher tone on Wednesday (17) amid reports that the European Union may once again delay signing a free trade agreement with Mercosur. Lula said that if the EU refuses to finalize the deal now, his administration will take a hard line and will not reopen talks on the agreement for as long as he remains president of Brazil.
> “It’s important to remember that this Mercosur meeting was scheduled for December 2. I moved it to December 20 at the European Union’s request. And now I’m learning they won’t be able to approve the agreement. If it doesn’t happen now, Brazil will not pursue this deal again while I’m president,” Lula said.
> He went on to acknowledge that the agreement is “more favorable” to Europeans than to South Americans, yet said Italy and France are still hindering its conclusion. “We’ve been waiting 26 years for this deal. It benefits them more than us. [French President Emmanuel] Macron doesn’t want it because of their farmers, and Italy doesn’t want it for reasons I don’t even know,” he said.
> Lula also argued that an agreement between the two blocs would carry symbolic weight at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to weaken multilateralism.
> “The concrete fact is that we Mercosur, and Brazil in particular, worked very hard to accept this agreement and to send a message at a moment when you have a president of the United States trying to undermine multilateralism and strengthen unilateralism,” he said.
> In closing, Lula reiterated that his administration will be “tough” if Europe once again postpones the deal. “We wanted to strike an agreement to show the world that we are defending multilateralism. So I’m going to Foz do Iguaçu expecting them to say ‘yes,’ not ‘no.’ But if they say no, we will be tough from here on, because we conceded everything diplomacy could possibly concede,” he said.
Small domino: The US passes the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1862.
Big domino: European farmers torpedo Europe’s global trade in 2025.
ZweigDidion on
This pisses me off to no end. Macron always states how Europe needs to be more independent from the U.S., and now that the EU actually has the chance to agree on an important deal that meaningfully helps Europe to diversify, Macron just goes “nah.”
lurkingnscrolling on
He has already somewhat backtracked from this. Now he is saying that he and the other Mercosur leaders will decide whether to accept a delay in signing the deal at a meeting on the 20th. Personally, I think we should have given up on this deal long ago. We have already conceded too much without getting anything in return.
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> Brazil’s President Lula struck a tougher tone on Wednesday (17) amid reports that the European Union may once again delay signing a free trade agreement with Mercosur. Lula said that if the EU refuses to finalize the deal now, his administration will take a hard line and will not reopen talks on the agreement for as long as he remains president of Brazil.
> “It’s important to remember that this Mercosur meeting was scheduled for December 2. I moved it to December 20 at the European Union’s request. And now I’m learning they won’t be able to approve the agreement. If it doesn’t happen now, Brazil will not pursue this deal again while I’m president,” Lula said.
> He went on to acknowledge that the agreement is “more favorable” to Europeans than to South Americans, yet said Italy and France are still hindering its conclusion. “We’ve been waiting 26 years for this deal. It benefits them more than us. [French President Emmanuel] Macron doesn’t want it because of their farmers, and Italy doesn’t want it for reasons I don’t even know,” he said.
> Lula also argued that an agreement between the two blocs would carry symbolic weight at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to weaken multilateralism.
> “The concrete fact is that we Mercosur, and Brazil in particular, worked very hard to accept this agreement and to send a message at a moment when you have a president of the United States trying to undermine multilateralism and strengthen unilateralism,” he said.
> In closing, Lula reiterated that his administration will be “tough” if Europe once again postpones the deal. “We wanted to strike an agreement to show the world that we are defending multilateralism. So I’m going to Foz do Iguaçu expecting them to say ‘yes,’ not ‘no.’ But if they say no, we will be tough from here on, because we conceded everything diplomacy could possibly concede,” he said.
https://preview.redd.it/jes6cegi508g1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a81a7c839cafc657f8c8786116b7aefbe5a5740b
Atp what’s the point
The farmers always win
Small domino: The US passes the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1862.
Big domino: European farmers torpedo Europe’s global trade in 2025.
This pisses me off to no end. Macron always states how Europe needs to be more independent from the U.S., and now that the EU actually has the chance to agree on an important deal that meaningfully helps Europe to diversify, Macron just goes “nah.”
He has already somewhat backtracked from this. Now he is saying that he and the other Mercosur leaders will decide whether to accept a delay in signing the deal at a meeting on the 20th. Personally, I think we should have given up on this deal long ago. We have already conceded too much without getting anything in return.