Belém, Brazil, Nov. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister expressed hope on Friday that the trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur bloc would be implemented "once and for all" in December.
After a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the Climate Summit in the Amazonian city of Belém, Luís Montenegro said that the signing of an agreement between the two blocs was one of the topics on the table.
"We had the opportunity, within this context, to make our contribution to the realisation that, as you know, Portugal has always made a priority of the European Union's agreement with Mercosur and the hope that we have that, in December, we can once and for all begin to implement this agreement," the prime minister said.
Brazil's chief diplomat, Mauro Vieira, said that the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, intends to sign the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur on 20 December.
Mauro Vieira assured journalists on Wednesday that the agreement's signing was discussed during the meeting in Belém between von der Leyen and the Brazilian President.
According to Luís Montenegro, this agreement is "good for the European community from the point of view of various sectors of activity, including agriculture, industry and also the markets of Latin America and Brazil in particular".
"So from that point of view, we share a great deal of interest and that was also something we discussed at our meeting," said the head of the Portuguese government.
The trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, reached after 25 years of negotiation, was signed in December 2024, but still needs final validation.
The agreement proposes that, in general, customs barriers between the two blocs will be phased out over a 10-year transition period.
However, some products considered more sensitive will have their transition period extended to 15 years.
The agreement will cover 90% of the products traded, with measures also introduced for the remainder, including a maximum tariff.
The agreement also stipulates that there can be no import or export monopolies.
This will be the world's largest trade and investment agreement, serving a market equivalent to 25% of the global economy, with 780 million people, almost 10% of the world's population.
After tense diplomatic relations during Jair Bolsonaro's presidency, when Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023, EU-Brazil ties gained new momentum, and the conclusion of negotiations on the EU-Mercosur agreement in December 2024 gave new impetus.
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