SAO PAULO, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- There is a possibility that negotiations to sign the trade agreement between the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the European Union (EU) may fail, as a result of protectionism advocated by the Europeans, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday.
"If there is no agreement, be patient, it was not for lack of will. The only thing that has to be clear is that they can no longer say that it is Brazil's fault or South America's fault, but that the rich countries do not want to make an agreement," Lula said.
"And we are no longer colonized, we are independent. We want to be treated only with the respect of independent countries, that we have things to sell and the things we have, have a price. What we want is a balance," he added.
The president made his remarks during a press conference after his participation in the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In 2019, Mercosur, consisting of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and the EU reached a comprehensive trade agreement, which is still pending after Mercosur rejected environmental clauses that the EU attached to the trade deal earlier this year. ■
