Fernandez participates in the III Summit between the EU and SELAC

President Alberto Fernandez attends the III Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Brussels, Belgium.

The plane carrying the president and his entourage landed at 10:12 local time (5:12 in Argentina) this Monday after stopping in Seville.

Fernandez was received by Argentine ambassadors to the EU, Attilio Berardi Huda and Juan Carlos Valle Raleigh to Belgium.

President @alferdez He arrived in Brussels to participate in the III Summit between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

A memorandum of understanding on energy will be signed in this meeting pic.twitter.com/juJG4YdJtq

– AgenciaTelam (@AgenciaTelam) July 17, 2023

A memorandum of understanding on energy issues is set to be signed at a meeting of European and Latin American leaders this Monday and Tuesday, amid a dispute over a delayed deal between the European Union and Mercosur. .

The free trade agreement between the “old continent” and Mercosur, reached in principle in 2019 after two decades of negotiations, still needs to be ratified and negotiations have been delayed, including last March due to environmental demands related to the agricultural sector. EU

“The European Union took from mid-2019 to the end of February this year to send the additional document on the environment; that is, they took almost four years to write it; they presented it here at the end of February,” government sources remind Thelam Argentina.

In the wake of the summit in Brussels, Alberto Fernandez and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen discussed the agreement in Buenos Aires on June 14.

Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay responded to the document, and Brazil asked for some more time within the framework of the change of government and the perspective of the new administration, and since that moment they have been working on texts.

Two weeks ago, when Luís Inacio Lula da Silva took over as interim president of Mercosur in Puerto Iguazú, the Brazilian president responded to a letter from the European Union in which he laid out the conditions for the agreement and said in the text that “sanctions are considered threats. “Especially in relation to environmental issues.

“More than four months have passed; it’s not a big delay, it’s important not to reopen this agreement, but to reconsider how both regions can benefit from the agreement,” Argentine sources added.

The Mercosur pro tempore presidency went to Brazil and the national government said it was waiting for their response – on the one hand – to the European ‘side letter’ on the environment and on the other to the two letters provided by Argentina. For small and medium enterprises, energy and environmental change and the constitution of bi-regional value chains, two initiatives that have already received the approval of Paraguay and Uruguay.

“After this, it is necessary to see how a single Mercosur level is integrated with all these elements, which is what we have been working on and doing well,” they concluded at Palcars 50.

In the context of the summit in Brussels, Alberto Fernández and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen discussed the agreement in Buenos Aires on June 14.

“We want an agreement with the European Union that balances the economy of each region and takes into account the asymmetries that are objective to protect the development of our region,” the Argentine president said on that occasion.

Due to the war in Ukraine, European countries have reduced their imports of Russian oil and gas, and the European Union aims to find a partner in Latin America, where the lithium triangle, known as Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, is located. , which accounts for nearly 65 percent of the world’s reserves

Later, at the Mercosur summit in Puerto Iguazu, Fernández urged his counterparts in the region to “integrate into the world not only as suppliers of raw materials, but also as exporters of finished goods.” The EU “provides balanced results for all parties”.

For his part, the summit in Brussels is “a very important meeting, because it will be the pillar for concluding the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union that was dreamed of decades ago,” the Brazilian president said this week.

This week, at a seminar in Buenos Aires, Cecilia Todesca, Secretary for International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, argued the same, saying that the agreement between the two groups is an opportunity and an opportunity for the EU. to Mercosur”.

At the same seminar, the Spanish ambassador to Argentina, María Jesus Alonso, said she hoped the Brussels summit would serve as an impetus to “revitalize” relations between the two regions, adding the Spanish ambassador to France. Victorio Redondo Baldrich proposed establishing “a road map” to conclude a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur.

However, France rejects the ratification of the EU-Mercosar free trade agreement because it is “too demanding” in trade agreements with international climate principles and so-called “mirror clauses”. subject to the same rules,” French government sources said this week.

Meanwhile, because of the war in Ukraine, European countries have cut Russian oil and gas imports, and the EU’s mission is to seek a partner in Argentina, Bolivia and Latin America, known as the lithium triangle. Chile holds nearly 65 percent of the world’s reserves.

In this sense, Europe is not dependent on China to support the development of value chains and encourage the participation of European companies as suppliers of lithium batteries. Accepted by companies in the country.

In addition, the Head of State of Argentina stressed the importance of ensuring that the new regulations derived from the EU Green Deal are implemented within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and based on scientific evidence. Constitutes a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or disguised restriction of international trade

When he was in Buenos Aires last month, the European Union’s strategy with CELAC member states included “a global gateway strategy, increasing investment through the infrastructure investment program, which will invest 10,000 million euros in Latin America and the Caribbean. , which will be completed with additional contributions from member states and private sector investors. will be done.”

Within the framework of that visit, Fernández and van der Leyen signed a memorandum of understanding on strategic association on sustainable value chains in raw materials between Argentina and Europe; And Amador Sánchez Rico, the EU’s ambassador to Argentina, announced Tuesday in Buenos Aires that he hopes to close another deal on energy ahead of a summit in Belgium on Monday and Tuesday.

In addition, the Head of State of Argentina stressed the importance of ensuring that the new regulations derived from the EU Green Deal are implemented within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and based on scientific evidence. Constitutes a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or disguised restriction of international trade.

That deal, agreed by the EU in 2019, will come into effect at the end of next year and establishes a series of measures aimed at reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 below 1990 levels.

Amador Sánchez Rico, the EU’s ambassador to Argentina, announced in Buenos Aires on Tuesday that he hopes to close another energy deal ahead of a summit in Belgium on Monday and Tuesday.

The EU will propose a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides, fertilizers and livestock products within seven years, and stop buying products from deforested areas.

In addition, one of the harshest topics of the Brussels Declaration could turn into a war in Ukraine.

At the meeting, van der Leyen twice thanked Argentina for its “unwavering support” within the United Nations.