Commodities and Futures News

EU official expects Mercosur trade deal this year, dismisses changes on deforestation law

2024.11.05 19:22

By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA (Reuters) – The European Union expects to close the trade agreement with South American bloc Mercosur by the end of the year, the EU commissioner for crisis management told Reuters late last week, although noting there were still differences to be solved.

Janez Lenarcic, who is not directly participating in the talks with Mercosur, acknowledged that a new EU law banning the import of products linked to the destruction of the world’s forests has been a sticking point, but said the law will not change – though its implementation is on the verge of being put off for another year.

Mercosur joins Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and most recently Bolivia in a market that is a sought-after destination for EU manufacturing exporters, though European farmers, especially in France, fear the competition it will bring.

“First of all, the European Union wants this agreement, let me be very clear about that,” Lenarcic said in an interview on Friday in Brazil, where he joined a G20 summit focused on climate disasters.

“There are some open questions,” he said, adding the EU “hopes to be able to find solutions to the remaining issues soon, by the end of this year.”

Lenarcic said he believes the EU’s new deforestation law has affected the negotiations, especially when it comes to Brazil.

The European Commission proposed, and the bloc’s ambassadors agreed last month, to delay implementation of the law by a year until the end of December 2025 after pressure from some member states and major agricultural product exporters such as Brazil.

Lenarcic said the EU has listened to the requests to postpone the law’s implementation, but noted that, in the end, the regulation will not change.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: European Union and South American negotiators of the EU-Mercosur trade deal attends a meeting at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, September 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

A deal between the EU and Mercosur has been in the works for some 25 years. The parties had announced an agreement in 2019, but it was never formally ratified due to EU demands for commitments on Amazonian deforestation and climate change.

A new online meeting between negotiators of both blocs should happen in the next few days, while a fresh round of face-to-face talks is expected for late November, with hopes of reaching a deal before Mercosur’s meeting in Uruguay in December, according to Brazil’s foreign ministry.



Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 70,886.99 4.26%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,467.28 2.68%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999191 0.01%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 572.35 3.41%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 170.63 7.51%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.25%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.519124 3.08%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.178727 9.93%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,461.06 2.32%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.161303 0.98%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.338294 3.26%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 4.73 0.56%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000018 7.51%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,903.93 2.08%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 70,592.91 4.16%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 24.51 7.51%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,464.20 2.50%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 348.38 5.56%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 10.99 6.87%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 2.08 12.14%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 3.92 4.31%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 6.03 0.41%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.992204 0.78%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 66.55 1.09%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.90 6.87%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 8.67 6.93%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,591.79 2.51%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 7.41 8.49%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000009 11.15%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.50 6.44%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 475.10 12.57%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.01 0.58%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.27 12.48%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 158.22 0.83%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.113309 8.35%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.094348 3.60%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.25%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 19.08 1.09%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 18.47 4.92%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 1.02 1.55%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.30763 4.74%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.56 6.37%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 38.18 2.42%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 2.19 12.11%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 139.31 8.12%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 3.45 4.78%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.499137 5.02%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.072721 2.72%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.569984 3.25%
immutable-x
Immutable (IMX) $ 1.10 3.48%