On Sunday 30 and Monday 31 October, the vast majority of European leaders welcomed on social networks the election of former trade unionist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as Brazil’s for a third time, following his mandates from 2003 to 2010, thus turning the page on ‘Jair Bolsonaro’, whose presidency since January 2019 has been a low point in relations between Brazil and the European Union.
These leaders hope that Lula’s return to the helm of Latin America’s largest economy will be conducive to a revitalisation of relations on bilateral issues, particularly trade, as well as on global issues.
“I look forward to working with you to address pressing global challenges, from food security to climate change”, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, welcomed the fact that “the Brazilians (have) chosen change” and reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to cooperate for “peace, stability, prosperity and climate change”.
Praising Brazil’s robust democracy, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, highlighted the long-standing partnership between the two regions in support of human rights and the rule of law.
The same is true for the leaders of the Member States. For the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the election of Mr Lula “opens a new page in the history of Brazil”. “We will join forces to address the many common challenges”, he added. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for “close cooperation in full confidence, particularly on trade and climate protection issues”.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also expressed great enthusiasm, the latter pointing out the importance of advancing “social justice”.
According to the official results, Lula narrowly won the second round of the presidential election, with 50.9% of the vote against 49.1% for his far-right rival. On Monday afternoon, Mr Bolsonaro had not reacted after the results were announced.
In his first statements on Sunday evening, Lula assured that “Brazil is ready to become a protagonist again in the fight against the climate crisis, the protection of ecosystems, especially the Amazon forest”, promising to fight for a total halt to deforestation.
Mercosur. These words should encourage Europeans and Brazilians to re-engage in discussions on developing additional joint commitments to environmental and climate protection in order to unblock the implementation of the EU/Mercosur free trade agreement concluded in June 2019 (see EUROPE 12285/5, 12286/3).
While the Latin American bloc regularly calls for the implementation of the trade agreement, the Europeans, especially France (see EUROPE 12563/28), have since halted work, refusing to move forward until Brazil complies with the Paris Climate Agreement. In October 2020, the European Parliament also voted by a narrow majority against ratification of the trade agreement (see EUROPE 12575/16).
During a tour of Latin America, Mr Borrell said that he hoped that work on the EU/Mercosur agreement would be finalised by the time of the EU/CELAC summit, which is to be held by the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2023 (see EUROPE 13051/25). According to him, a written proposal from the Europeans could be ready by the end of 2022.
According to our information, the additional elements of the agreement are not yet finalised within the European institution. The Commission is very cautious about this politically sensitive issue, which has been taken up by environmental and agricultural interest groups, and intends to test its proposals with the Member States and the Parliament first.
On Monday in Prague, on the sidelines of the EU Trade Ministers meeting (see other news), Sweden’s Johan Forssell, interviewed by EUROPE, expressed “great hope” that new opportunities for the EU/Mercosur agreement would open up with the election of Lula, while refusing to put forward a timeframe. He confirmed that the trade agenda would be a priority for the Swedish Presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2023, noting support from many Member States.
Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, meanwhile, said he was ready to contact the new Brazilian authorities to “discuss how to move forward with the Mercosur agreement”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Léa Marchal)