“There will be a further declaration on the Mercosur agreement”, said the chairman of the EU Parliament’s trade commission, Bernd Lange (SPD), to the “Rheinische Post” (Friday’s edition). It should contain clarifications on deforestation, on the rights of workers and the indigenous population, and on the control mechanisms that are still missing.
“Everything is in the works,” Lange said. Hopefully, the deal will be on the table by the end of the year. The chairman of the foreign affairs committee, David McAllister (CDU), also confirmed intense behind-the-scenes negotiations to “finally eliminate the problems and get the 2023 agreement signed and sealed”. In Brussels, the political will in this sense has increased considerably, and the change of power in Brazil has also brought about a new dynamic. The president of the EU internal market commission, Anna Cavazzini (Greens), criticized the fact that the agreement in its current form is “completely obsolete”. It would further increase the pressure on precious ecosystems such as the Amazon.
dts German Text Service News Agency GmbH
