French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet in Belem on March 26, 2024. (photo: AFP/VNA)

President Macron visited Guyana, a French overseas territory, on Monday and Tuesday, and then Brazil, from Wednesday to Thursday. This was the first trip to South America by a French President since 2017.

Warming up the strategic partnership with Brazil

Macron’s visit to Brazil is the most notable diplomatic event between France and Brazil in recent years, after a period of bilateral relations going downhill due to disagreements during former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration. Restarting strategic cooperation with Brazil, the world's 9th largest economy and the No.1 power in Latin America, is important for France.

Brazil is the largest importer of French goods in Latin America and the second-largest investment destination for French businesses among developing countries. Bilateral trade turnover last year reached 9 billion USD, with France enjoying a trade surplus of 410 million USD. Brazil and France also traditionally have some level of defense cooperation.

On his first day in Brazil, the French President attended a groundbreaking ceremony for constructing Brazil's third diesel-powered submarine using French technology, part of a 10 billion USD contract signed in 2008.

“The Brazil-France partnership, with their high-level cooperation in cutting-edge technology, has strengthened Brazil's determination to realize its strategic autonomy, which is important in responding to the challenges and crises that humanity faces in the 21st century," said President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

Meanwhile, Macron said France and Brazil share a common vision of building strategic autonomy and do not accept a world dominated by power competition. In addition to defense and security cooperation, France and Brazil have signed more than 20 cooperation agreements on science, technology, and the environment.

Protecting the Amazon forest concerns France because 700 kilometers of the Guyana-Brazil border runs through the Amazon forest. France and Brazil have launched a 4-year program at a cost of 1.1 billion USD to protect the forest. Macron said that was one of the top priorities of his visit to Brazil. 

“That’s why I came to Brazil with a delegation of scientists from research institutes and companies that are conducting innovative projects in the forests of Guyana and Brazil. French companies can cooperate with Brazilian companies and researchers in nature-protection projects,” said Macron.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and French President Emmanuel Macron symbolicaly activate a submarine at the launching ceremony of a submarine built in Brazil with French technology on March 27, 2024. (photo: AP)

Future cooperation with MERCOSUR

During his visit, the French President had discussions on trade relations between the European Union and the South American Common Market (MERCOSUR), in particular the EU-MERCOSUR Free Trade Agreement, which is frozen due to protests in France.

He said the agreement, negotiated 20 years ago, is outdated and needs to be revised. “It’s a very bad idea to continue this agreement while holding meetings of the COP and G20 to say we’re doing great things for the climate and biodiversity, while the agreement harms our effort to reduce carbon emissions and protect biodiversity.”  

Macron said France supports increased trade with MERCOSUR, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. But trade is temporarily suspended because France opposes the current standards for South American beef and other food imported into Europe, and wants stricter environmental protection regulations.

Both Presidents agreed that the EU-MERCOSUR Agreement is an issue between the two blocs, not simply between France and Brazil, and they will continue to pursue closer bilateral cooperation.