The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, lamented today the postponement of a free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union (EU), after more than two decades of negotiations between the two blocks.
In his speech during the 67th Summit of Heads of State of Mercosur, in Foz do Iguaçu, the head of state said that in a letter, the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, respectively, told him that the treaty could be signed in January.
Lula said that after 26 years of negotiations, he had hoped to finally sign the association agreement with the EU this Saturday, and maintained that "diversifying alliances is the key to the resilience of our economies".
"If she signs and only France is left, according to von der Leyen and António Costa, there will be no possibility for France alone to block the agreement," he said.
"We had in our hands the opportunity to send an important message to the world in defense of multilateralism and strengthen our strategic position in an increasingly competitive global scenario," he noted.
"Unfortunately, Europe has not yet decided. European leaders asked for more time to discuss additional agricultural protection measures," Lula pointed out, as learned by the Argentine News agency.
According to the Brazilian president, in the first ten months of 2025 alone, Mercosur's external commercial flow exceeded 630 billion dollars, which is why "the world is looking for Mercosur".
In addition, Lula informed that Mercosur accepted the adoption of quotas for agricultural products and the establishment of a safeguard mechanism, safeguarding the right of reciprocity, and a mutually beneficial understanding was reached for both sides.
He then confided that "I had a telephone conversation with (Giorgia) Meloni, she literally told me that she will be ready to sign in early January."
