Scholz calls for willingness to compromise on Mercosur agreement
"I ask all those involved to be as pragmatic as possible and to be willing to compromise so that we can finally finalize this," said Scholz. Germany stands behind the intention to conclude such an agreement. "We believe it would be a major step forward," said the Chancellor. "It would be good if this could also be achieved between Mercosur and the European Union."
In this context,Scholz referred to the "very good" bilateral relations between Brazil and Germany. This is also reflected in a joint declaration of intent between Germany and Brazil on a partnership for a socially just and ecological transformation.
Brazil is Germany's most important trading partner in South America. During the intergovernmental consultations, "a good dozen agreements" were signed as part of this long-standing partnership, including on green hydrogen and the environmentally friendly extraction of raw materials.
For his part, Lula called for a swift conclusion of the trade agreement at the Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, in view of a "decisive moment in the negotiations". All parties involved have been working on this for 23 years. It would be "unreasonable if it were not concluded", said Lula. He had told the Federal Chancellor that he hoped "that the EU will decide whether it is interested in the agreement".
He himself would campaign for "as long as I am still in a position to believe that it will come about", the Brazilian head of state continued. "I am not giving up. I am Brazilian and Brazilians never give up."
The EU agreement with the South American Mercosur states of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay has been fully negotiated since 2019, but has not yet been ratified. The main dispute is over environmental requirements for South American farmers. France, Austria and other countries are pushing for strict requirements to protect their own farmers. Germany is pushing for rapid ratification.
On the South American side, the future Argentinian President Javier Milei in particular criticized the agreement with the EU during his election campaign and threatened to withdraw his country from it.
The responsibility for ratifying the agreement lies with the EU Commission, said Scholz. The countries and the EU Parliament would now have to approve it.
The EU and the South American Mercosur states were still aiming to conclude the agreement "as soon as possible", said EU Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari in Brussels on Monday.
However, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis will not be traveling to the Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had not planned to attend anyway, as she is at the EU-China summit in Beijing. The only high-ranking EU representative expected to attend is Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose country will chair Europe's Council of Ministers until the end of the year. Sánchez is also in favor of concluding the negotiations quickly.
Read also:
- Chancellor Olaf Scholz called for a willingness to compromise on the Mercosur agreement between Germany and the EU.
- Scholz acknowledged the good bilateral relations between Germany and Brazil, as reflected in a joint declaration of intent.
- Brazil is Germany's most important trading partner in South America, with numerous agreements signed during intergovernmental consultations.
- Lula, the Brazilian head of state, urged a swift conclusion of the Mercosur-EU trade agreement, emphasizing its importance in negotiations that have been ongoing for 23 years.
- Germany, along with other EU members, is pushing for rapid ratification of the agreement, despite objections from countries like France and Austria.
- The future Argentinian President Javier Milei has criticized the agreement with the EU during his campaign and threatened to withdraw Argentina from it.
- The responsibility for ratifying the agreement falls on the EU Commission, with approval needed from both the commission and the EU Parliament.
- EU Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari confirmed the EU's continued aim to conclude the agreement with Mercosur "as soon as possible."
- Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who will chair Europe's Council of Ministers until the end of the year, is also in favor of quickly concluding the negotiations for the Mercosur agreement.
Source: www.stern.de
