Base text created in 2019 is considered by members of civil society as unfair and unequal
Neocolonial. This is how representatives of civil society characterized the agreement with the European Union on the 1st day of the Mercosul Social Summit, held on Monday (Dec 4, 2023), at the Museum of Tomorrow, in Rio de Janeiro. The base text created in 2019, after more than 20 years of negotiations, was considered by them to be unfair and unequal, as it has provisions that favor a hierarchy in relations between South Americans and Europeans, to the detriment of the former.
At one of the debate tables, Raiara Pires, from MAM (Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining), defended the end of current negotiations and the construction of a new agreement on different bases. According to her, the text must consider the unity of popular and academic knowledge and allow for qualitative and equitable development among nations.
“In an agreement of this size, just one year is insufficient to review the initial text presented by previous misgovernments. A fresh start would be more strategic in this unequal relationship of forces”, stated Raiara. “Our bargaining power needs to be strengthened and improved. Exchanges between nations have always happened, but they don’t need to be done anyway. We can assume a position of sovereignty and strengthen this government to have a proud position“, he said.
Adhemar Mineiro, from Rebrip (Brazilian Network for the Integration of Peoples), has a similar thought. Speaking during the Social Summit, he stated that the current agreement makes the integration of peoples unfeasible, as it has elements that favor competition between South American countries. And that, therefore, it is necessary to start from scratch, instead of maintaining the current text and trying only a harm reduction policy.
“The social movements on our side of the Atlantic and the Europeans have come closer, because they want to discuss agreements on new bases, which are not just commercial. Themes of solidarity between people and sustainability must have priority. So, why insist on an agreement that reinforces the primary-export characteristic of South American economies and not seek another integration model?”, declared Adhemar.
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Civil society participation
The deputy executive secretary of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Flávio Schuch, celebrated the resumption of Mercosur Social and the possibility of resuming direct dialogue between the federal government and representatives of civil society. He said that it is necessary to expand debates on issues that afflict governments and peoples in South America.
“The possibility or not of a Mercosur agreement with the European Union is directly proportional to the possibility of hearing the aspirations of civil society”, said Schuch, adding that the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) “has been very insistent on the need to resume effective participation” of society in the discussion.
“The 2019 agreement was built on other bases that no longer interest Brazil”, he stated. “The country wants to negotiate, but the European Union also needs to listen and negotiate environmental issues, family farming and government accounts. We do not want to enter into an agreement that in any way means the deindustrialization of our country”, he added.
Ambassador Philip Fox-Drummond Gough, director of the Department of Economic, Financial and Services Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, detailed some points that have been most sensitive for the Brazilian government in negotiations with the European Union.
“Regarding forests, for example, we are insisting that we can use our mechanisms to monitor deforestation. In terms of industrial policy, the main focus is on government accounts. We felt that some sectors had to be excluded. One, already accepted by Europeans, is the health sector. We have already had the trauma of Covid-19, and our conclusion is that we should have freedom for public policies in the area of health. And we are examining other sectors to exclude from the agreement, such as network technologies“, he said.
With information from Brazil Agency.
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