President says the letter presented by Europeans is “unacceptable” and that partners cannot negotiate on the basis of “threats”.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) defended this Tuesday (July 4, 2023) that Mercosur would respond “quickly and forcefully” to the demands presented by the European Union in a recent letter as part of the negotiations for an agreement had between the 2 blocks.
Speaking at the 62nd Summit of Mercosur Leaders, Lula said the document was “unacceptable”.
“The additional instrument presented by the European Union in March is unacceptable. Strategic partners do not negotiate on the basis of distrust and the threat of sanctions. “It is imperative for Mercosur to respond quickly and vigorously,” he said.
Lula also defended that the agreement with the Europeans should be “balanced” and ensure “space for the adoption of public measures in favor of productive integration and reindustrialization”.
Watch Lula’s speech (16 min 30):
The Mercosur Summit takes place in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. The city borders with Foz do Iguaçu in Paraná and Ciudad del Leste in Paraguay. The meeting of the areas is called the “triple border”.
This Tuesday, Brazil will assume the group’s interim presidency until the end of 2023. Command of the group changes and rotates every six months. Argentine President Alberto Fernández will pass the baton to Lula during the summit.
Ahead of Lula’s speech at the meeting, the Argentine said in his speech that the preagreement with the European Union was challenged by Argentina in 2019 while he was leading the union.
“We are critical of what was agreed at the time. It was the result of a very unequal effort between the parties. Mercosur was the one that gave the most as it was the bloc with the lowest relative level of development in this deal,” he said.
Earlier this morning, Lula said on his weekly Conversation with the President that he would not accept any “impositions” on the European Union.
“We’re not accepting the letter. We are now preparing another response because we are going to Brussels to discuss with the EU and Latin American countries and we need to have an answer on what we want to consolidate the agreement. We want to develop a winwin policy. We don’t want to do politics where they win and we lose,” Lula said.