President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called in a telephone conversation on Friday for finalising the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union as soon as possible.
The culmination of the free-trade agreement reached in 2019 meets resistance on the South American end, after Europeans presented new environmental demands for the agricultural sector earlier this year.
The call between Lula and Sánchez, before a new round of trade negotiations between both blocs scheduled for next week took place at a time when Brazil presides over Mercosur (Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay), and Spain the EU Council.
“We’re talking about the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union and about making an effort to conclude negotiations by the end of the Brazilian and Spanish terms of office in each bloc”, at the end of the year, Lula posted on X.
In the same platform, Sánchez confirmed speaking with his Brazilian counterpart and said that “one of Spain’s priorities is to reach the EU-MERCOSUR agreement as soon as possible”.
According to a note from the Brazilian president’s office, Lula repeated his criticism of the EU’s environmental demands and reaffirmed its stance of restricting access to governmental purchases in the agreement.
In the call, the head of state also invited his “friend” Sánchez to visit Brazil.
– TIMES/AFP
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