At a meeting with foreign media outlets, at which Lusa was present, in Brasilia, the ambassadors reinforced that they are betting on the Portuguese presidency of the EU council to advance the ratification of the economic agreement between Brussels and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay).
“Everywhere, in all environmental agreements and negotiations, we have not been working with sanctions, but with objectives, which countries are committed to comply with. There are no sanctions in the Paris Agreement, for example. EU have this same configuration. We do not work with the idea of reaching sanctions, but promoting things to happen in a certain sense “, stated the European Union ambassador in Brazil, Ignácio Ibañez.
“We want to remember that trade is very important, but that it does not justify compromising other EU ideals, such as human rights, and the environment, for example. (…) we want to do everything for the sustainability of future generations of the EU and Mercosur countries “, added Ibañez.
The EU and Mercosur signed the trade agreement in 2019, after 20 years of negotiations, but it has not yet entered into force and its ratification is stalled because countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria, in addition to the European Parliament, call for the strengthening of environmental policies, mainly by Brazil, which has seen deforestation and fires in the Amazon break records in the last two years.
Although the Brazilian Government, chaired by Jair Bolsonaro since 2019, says that Brazil is an example of world preservation and accuses foreign nations, such as France, of wanting to question the country’s sovereignty over the Amazon, Portugal’s ambassador to Brasília, Luís Faro Ramos, guaranteed that there was a change in attitude on the part of the executive and “goodwill” in cooperating.
However, the Portuguese diplomat stressed that this change must be made widely known by Brazil and suggested that the South American country communicate to Europe all the initiatives to which it is committed.
“We, in fact, noticed a change. The Portuguese foreign minister, when he spoke to the Brazilian foreign minister, detected this change and this goodwill. Now, if they are not well communicated, they are useless. question of perception. It is important that the Brazilian Government communicates, explains concretely, what it is doing and how it intends to commit to these goals “, said Faro Ramos.
“This is a very important part of the equation. It is important to communicate, to correct a certain perception that nothing has changed. One of our suggestions is that the Brazilian side publicly communicate all these initiatives, so that the perception that exists in Europe can, of somehow be corrected “, added the Portuguese ambassador.
The EU is now trying to get Brazil to sign a declaration on sustainability, in order to achieve the confidence of member states and, thus, that the agreement be ratified.
“The Brazilian Government understood that there is a need for action, and that is where the EU comes in, wanting to help Brazil achieve these objectives, and we are preparing this letter with the commitments of Brazil, but also of the EU to help Brazil. ( …) If we achieve this, we think it will be much easier to reach the governments of the member states and explain that their environmental concerns are also our concerns “, explained Ibañez.
To this end, the EU also counts on the help of the United States, which, under the presidency of Joe Biden, admits to having a position of cooperation and dialogue with Brazil on environmental issues.
“We count on the help of the USA in that sense, clearly yes. They will be a very important aid for this European approach. (…) Cooperation is very important, and that is the position that the USA is taking in relation to Brazil. The new North American Government was asked whether sanctions will be applied to Brazil, but replied that it was not. That dialogue and cooperation is the direction to be taken and that it leads to better results “, reinforced, in turn, the ambassador of Portugal.
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