French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday hailed a recently upgraded EU-Chile free trade agreement as he met counterpart Gabriel Boric in Santiago on the last leg of a Latin America tour.
With France at odds with some European Union counterparts over a similar pact with South American trade bloc Mercosur, Macron said the Chile agreement should serve as an example of being "respectful of the interests of both sides."
"It is a trade agreement that is consistent with our climate and biodiversity ambitions," Macron said at a meeting with Boric.
Chile and the EU have had an "association agreement" since 2002. It was updated last year, but has yet to be approved by national parliaments in Europe to enter into force.
Chilean lawmakers have already adopted the modernised deal, which will see 99 percent of the country's exports to the EU enjoy some form of tariff exemption.
Boric also lauded the pact in his meeting with Macron.
'Not satisfied'
The French leader paid a state visit to Chile after attending the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, prior to which he had also stopped over in Argentina – both Mercosur members. Chile is an associate member but not a full member of the bloc.
France has staunchly opposed the finalisation of an EU-Mercosur trade pact, which in addition to Brazil and Argentina would bring members Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay into the fold.
Work on the pact has been under way for a quarter of a century, and in 2019, the contours of a deal to create the world's largest free-trade zone were agreed.
But French farmers fear they will be undercut by what they view as unfair competition, and have the backing of their government.
Macron seems to have found an ally in Argentina's Javier Milei, with the French president telling reporters Sunday his counterpart was also "not satisfied" with the draft deal.
Natural ally?
On other matters, the French leader has a more natural ally in Boric.
"The two presidents share a common vision of the importance of multilateralism," the Élysée said ahead of the state visit.
The men signed an agreement Wednesday for the creation of a Franco-Chilean artificial intelligence centre.
Chile is the world's top copper producer and the second of lithium, used in electric car batteries and key for the global switch to cleaner energy.
On Thursday, before returning to Paris, Macron will travel to the port city of Valparaíso to give a speech on France-Latin America ties to the Chilean Congress meeting there.
The French president has made few trips to South America since he was first elected to office seven years ago, though he has had frequent exchanges with Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
At the G20 summit, he met Mexico's new President Claudia Sheinbaum and Colombia's Gustavo Petro.
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by Francesco Fontemaggi, AFP
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