The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, returns to his country and is convinced that the EU-Celac (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit this Monday and Tuesday was “extremely successful”. “Of all the meetings I have attended with the EU, this was the most successful meeting ever,” said the President. Lula is clear about the reason: “Rarely have I seen so much political and economic interest from EU countries in Latin America.”
The assessment of the President of Brazil, the most important political and economic adviser in the region, leaves no doubt about the outcome of the summit. The Brazilian is also not mistaken about what has caused Europe to move from the apathy of doing nothing to maximum interest in the region: “Possibly because of the dispute between the United States and China, possibly because of China’s investments in Africa and Latin America, possibly along.” the new Silk Road [nombre del programa inversor chino]possibly because of the war [de Ucrania]“. But Lula welcomes the concrete result: “The European Union has shown great interest in investing by announcing an investment of 45 billion euros.”
At the beginning of the summit, the Brazilian (in office from 2003 to 2011 and again since January last year) issued a strong warning. Neither he nor the other Latin American leaders – notably Argentina’s Alberto Fernández – were willing to admit previous situations and “extractivist logics” that only seek raw materials from the region without taking into account their development. And in his assessment of the meeting before the press earlier this Wednesday, Lula expressed satisfaction with the outcome, noting that the EU had also pledged to “help fund $100 billion to fight jungle deforestation, be it that. “Amazon or another jungle”.
The outcome is so positive for the Brazilian leader that he was also “very optimistic” about the possibility of a ratification of the trade deal between the EU and Mercosur, an economic bloc made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, It could yet come this year, a deadline that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has also set. Pending final approval since June 2019, the EU sent Mercosur countries an “additional instrument” to the text of the agreement earlier this year, calling for more commitments on deforestation, environmental and social sustainability, and even sanctioning chapters for non-compliance. On the other side of the Atlantic, especially in Brazil, that didn’t go over well. Now, however, Lula believes the situation is possible and has promised to send the South American response “in two to three weeks”.
But their responses this Wednesday made it clear that optimism doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned their most delicate positions to close the chapter on the big trade deal (there are nearly 800 million consumers between the two markets). It is important for Brazil that the issue of public procurement is dealt with in the so-called additional instrument. The European Union opposes this, believing it would mean opening up the main text that has been agreed upon for over 20 years. “Public procurement is an industrial policy tool for everyone. It applies to the United States, to China, to France… In France, state purchases are a matter of sovereignty,” he emphasized, concluding that for him they also have this sovereign character.
What hasn’t changed the Brazilian President’s mind is his stance on the war in Ukraine, an issue that occupied much time at the summit and was on the verge of wrecking the final declaration. He understands the fear of the countries geographically closest to the conflict. However, he sticks to his position of seeking a negotiated solution to the war. “Until then, it needs a group of countries that can talk to Russia and Ukraine,” he added. Lula has even been critical of his Chilean counterpart Gabriel Boric, probably the Latin American leader who has most strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Perhaps he is a little more concerned than the others because it must have been Boric’s first meeting between the European Union and Latin America. Only that,” he replied when asked about the words of the Chilean, who called for “clarity” about “an imperial, unacceptable war of aggression in which international law is violated”.
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