Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is among the 50 world leaders in Paris Thursday for a global development and climate summit, and he will hold 'bilateral' talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, where he hopes to discuss the stalled Mercosur trade deal.
When he meets Macron at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, Lula is expecting to bring up the free trade deal between Mercosur countries and the European Union, which French lawmakers have refused to approve.
"I am having lunch with Macron and I want to raise the issue of the French parliament toughening the trade deal," Lula said in a weekly live broadcast on social media. "If we are strategic partners, then one cannot threaten the other."
The French National Assembly passed a resolution against the approval of deal last week.
Lawmakers warn that the agreement with the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil, along with Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, could lead to increased deforestation in South America and hurt French and European farmers.
The deal, 20 years in the making, was first agreed in 2019, but has been put on hold since then, largely due to European concerns over Amazon deforestation.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Latin America last week and said, after meeting with Lula, that the EU hopes to finalise the deal by the end of the year at the latest.
(with newswires)
