RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In an interview with French television channel BFM TV, French Environment Minister Élisabeth Borne said that France will not sign the agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries under “current conditions”.
“We cannot sign a trade agreement with a country that does not respect the Amazon rainforest, that does not respect the Paris Agreement. France will not sign the Mercosur agreement under these conditions,” she said.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was against the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, mentioning what he claimed was the inability of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to fight forest fires and climate change.
In September, the Austrian Parliament voted against the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, jeopardizing the project.
The trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc, which currently includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, has been under negotiation for almost 20 years.
In late June, the two economic blocs agreed to the terms of the agreement, with the aim of intensifying economic cooperation and boosting sustainable growth.