France and Ireland have said they will oppose an EU trade deal with South American countries unless Brazil takes action to stop the burning of the Amazon.
On the eve of a meeting of the G7 nations in Biarritz, an Élysée source said Emmanuel Macron thought Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, "lied" to him at the G20 meeting in Osaka in June about his climate commitments and therefore France would oppose the Mercosur treaty.
"The decisions and comments of Brazil show that President Bolsonaro has decided not to respect his commitments on the climate or biodiversity," a French official told AFP.
The Mercosur treaty with four Latin American countries – Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – was signed in June after two decades of negotiation but has not yet been ratified.
Warranted, Era?