The EU/Mercosur agreement already obliges the parties to respect the Paris Climate Agreement, but if there are additional “legitimate” concerns on environmental issues, these will have to be “addressed and resolved through additional declarations” without reopening the negotiations, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, Monday 14 December, at the opening of a videoconference of EU and Latin American and Caribbean Foreign Ministers.
In his view, these misgivings must be overcome before launching the ratification process for the EU/Mercosur agreement which will entail the ratification of “more than 30 parliaments” in Europe.
As Argentina prepares to assume the presidency of Mercosur, Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá said the agreement carries “risks” and long-term opportunities that the national parliament will analyse. He did not detail the options for rapid implementation of the agreement. “There is a valid concern about the environmental issue”, he said, noting also that the agreement did not provide for penalties for environmental violations.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas spoke of the many areas of cooperation between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, stressing the need for a fibre-optic cable between the two partner regions in 2021.
On Monday, the European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, and the ministers of the Mercosur countries called on their teams to intensify the dialogue in order to move forward on environmental issues, in particular on compliance with the Paris Agreement. The work will have to focus particularly on deforestation, which is a cause for concern of many EU Member States and MEPs (see EUROPE 12621/22). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Léa Marchal)