Negotiations on the EU/Mercosur trade agreement are continuing: on Thursday 14 September, the European Commission confirmed that it had received the response document from the four Mercosur countries on the EU’s environmental requirements.
On the same day, a meeting of negotiators from the two blocs was held by videoconference. The participants discussed “the next steps with a view to concluding the negotiations before the end of the year”, said the EU institution.
A few weeks earlier, the Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, had described the European demands as “aggressive” on environmental issues (see EUROPE 13226/12).
According to Anna Cavazzini MEP (Greens/EFA, Germany), who reacted to these latest announcements, the Mercosur countries are continuing to call for an additional instrument on respect for the environment not accompanied by sanctions.
They are also calling for a mechanism to rebalance the trade concessions in the agreement when these are affected by autonomous EU legislation, according to the MEP. The example of the regulation to combat imported deforestation, for example, has been worrying the Mercosur countries for several months.
“Weakening the law and increasing agricultural exports through the Mercosur agreement is a danger for the Amazon and indigenous communities”, the German MEP added.
According to CNN Brazil, the Mercosur countries are also including in their text a request concerning the freedom to conduct public procurement contracts, which is a strong demand of the Brazilian President (see EUROPE 13226/12). (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)