European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has vowed that a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, will be concluded as soon as this year. The official made the pledge as she appeared at a press conference alongside Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday.
According to von der Leyen, the pact will allow investment to flow and will support the reindustrialization of Brazil, as well as the creation of jobs.
Brazil is the first stop on the EC president’s Latin American tour, and she is next set to travel to Argentina, Chile and Mexico to meet with the heads of each state.
The EU-Mercosur free trade talks were launched in 2000 but later stalled on numerous occasions. The two sides completed negotiations in 2019 on a wide-ranging pact, but it has yet to be ratified by any of the individual countries.
The process stuttered during the presidency of Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, due to the EU’s concerns over his environmental policies, as well as the bloc’s desire to protect EU farmers from cheaper imports from Mercosur.
Von der Leyen has also used her trip to call on Brazil to take its partnership with the bloc to the next level, adding that Brussels is planning to invest €10 billion ($10.8 billion) in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“And this is only the start because it will be complemented by private investments and by the contributions of our member states,” von der Leyen said, noting that the scheme would be implemented through Global Gateway, the EU’s international investment plan.
The EC president also announced the launch of a project to boost Brazil’s hydrogen production, pledging that “with this, Europe will invest €2 billion to support Brazil’s production of green hydrogen and to promote energy efficiency in your industry.”
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section