France halts the EU-Mercosur agreement "concerned" about its impact on deforestation

France says it has confirmed its greatest fears about the negative environmental impact, especially in terms of deforestation, of the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur still pending ratification.

For this reason, the Government of Emmanuel Macron announced this Friday that it maintains its opposition, advanced a year ago, to the treaty as it is and said that it wants to renegotiate, first with the European partners and then with the Latin Americans, guarantees so that the pact is at the height of health demands and, above all, of the Paris Agreement.

After receiving the "worrying conclusions" of the report commissioned last summer from a commission of independent experts on the impact of the agreement, "the Government has concluded that these elements reinforce France's position of opposing the draft association agreement as it stands" says a statement from the office of the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, in which he laments the "insufficient level of ambition" of the agreement on environmental matters.

“The draft agreement does not contain any provision that allows disciplining the practices of the Mercosur countries in the fight against deforestation.

It is the main lack of this agreement and that is the main reason that, in the current state, the French authorities oppose the draft agreement, "added government sources cited by Agence France Presse.

Castex himself has declared, in a message on social networks, that opposing the pact under these conditions is an act of "coherence with the environmental commitments" of France and Europe.

According to France Presse, who claims to have had access to the 184 pages of the report on the matter, the experts conclude that "the agreement represents a wasted opportunity for the EU to use its negotiating power to obtain solid guarantees that meet" expectations " environmental, health and (...) social issues of their fellow citizens ”.

Specifically, it estimates that deforestation in Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) could “accelerate by 5% annually” due to the additional grazing area that would be necessary to cover the increase in beef production destined for the EU ( between 2% and 4%).

It also figures at "between 4.7 and 6.8 million equivalent tons of CO₂" the increase in greenhouse gas emissions that the agreement would generate and doubts that the "economic gains" offset "the climate costs."

For Paris, you have to work on three key aspects.

On the one hand, an agreement with Mercosur "cannot, in any case, imply an increase in deforestation."

Furthermore, the public policies of Mercosur members must be "fully in accordance with their commitments to the Paris Agreement."

Finally, says Matignon, seat of the prime minister, imported agri-food products that benefit from preferential access to the European market "must respect the health and environmental regulations of the EU."

Before "resuming" the process towards an agreement between the EU and Mercosur, the French Government wants to work with its European partners in the elaboration of "concrete proposals" in these matters.

Gallic reluctance to the agreement with Mercosur last year caused strong tensions between President Macron and his Brazilian counterpart, Jair Bolsonaro.

However, Paris is not the only capital to view the deal with suspicion.

Two parliaments, the Austrian and the Dutch, have already rejected it in its current state.

Also last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also expressed "serious doubts" about the treaty.