Alckmin and EU representative talk about accelerating Mercosur agreement

The Vice President of the Republic, Geraldo Alckmin, met this Friday (17) with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Margrethe Vestager, to discuss relations between Brazil and the European bloc, in addition to the multilateral agreement with the Mercosur. On the occasion, the two leaders reaffirmed their intention to speed up the agreement between the economic blocs. The meeting took place during the launch of the Bilateral Investment Map Brazil-European Union, a study published by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), in Brasília.

Alckmin pointed out that the European Union (EU) is the world’s largest investor in Brazil and that it intends to strengthen this partnership by understanding that Europeans share values ​​and principles, such as sustainable, inclusive and stable development. Negotiations between Mercosur and European Union countries began in 1999, but only advanced in 2019, after the conclusion of trade issues and political and cooperation aspects.

Currently, the commercial treaty is under review. According to Margrethe Vestager, concluding the agreement is a priority for the European Commission. “For us, finalizing the Mercosur European Union agreement negotiations is an absolute priority. It is a very important moment to accelerate the finalization and this is the moment to make things happen”, stated the European Commission envoy.

The executive vice-president also said that 50% of direct foreign investment in Brazil is of European origin and that she is proud to see the number of companies from the continent operating in the country. “We hope to develop strategic partnerships, including sustainable mining. We are going to leave behind the old mining, in which there was a frank and clear exploration of nature and people, in particular moving and removing raw materials from the exploited places, now in search for a much more appropriate balance, in which the sharing of the added value obtained is done in a more adequate and fair way”, he said.

In this context, Alckmin highlighted the efforts of the Brazilian government to put the country “in the fight against climate change, zero illegal deforestation, energy transition, decarbonization and green hydrogen”. der Leyen, to Brazil According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, negotiations should be “intensified” from now on.

Brazil-European Union Bilateral Map of Investments

The Brazil – European Union Bilateral Investment Map, published during the meeting between the vice-president and the EU representative, consists of a survey and analysis of official data and announcements of new projects that outline an overview of the investment relationship between the two regions. The study shows the distribution of these investments among the Member States of the bloc and, also, in the Brazilian states, providing sectoral level information.

This is the second version of the survey which, based on a scenario analysis carried out by ApexBrasil’s Market Intelligence sector, maps the most promising business opportunities between the bloc and the country. In these analyses, information is found relating to projects, values ​​and jobs resulting from investment operations by foreign companies in Brazil and Brazilian companies abroad. The objective is to outline an overview of the investment relationship between the two regions.