O agronegócio brasileiro e as negociações Mercosul-União Europeia

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the negotiations between Mercosur and the European Union, emphasizing the Brazilian position during Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer administrations. We highlight the coordination of agribusiness regarding trade policy. We observe that the negotiations between the two blocs remained a priority of Brazilian foreign policy, despite the fundamental programmatic differences between Rousseff and Temer. To explain the continuity of the negotiations and the impasse surrounding the closure of the agreement, we argue that the structural change in the Brazilian economy, marked by progressive deindustrialization and reprimarization of exports, along with the greater coordination capacity of agribusiness collective action, produced impacts on the formation of Brazilian interests during the negotiations. We bring evidence to corroborate our hypothesis, analyzing the negotiations in the recent period. We note that items dear to the industry sector were relaxed, while the defense of greater access to European agricultural markets was kept, an item considered non-negotiable by the EU.