The Irish threat to Mercosur on the Amazon situation

Varadkar says "very concerned because this year, the Amazon rainforest has been devastated by unprecedented fires "and he estimated that" the efforts of President Bolsonaro to blame fires to oengete ecologists are Orwellians ".

After 20 years of negotiations, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay have recently signed an badociation agreement between the two blocs with the EU, which includes sections on political and trade dialogue.

The bloc countries still have to approve the text to allow its entry into force, which must be approved by the European Chamber of Commerce, which may take two years.

"During these two years, we will closely monitor Brazil's environmental actions," warned Varadkar.

The fires that occurred in the Amazon on Thursday had an international impact, with calls from the UN and world leaders to "protect" the lungs of the planet and calls for global protests.

Stating that "our house is burning", French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed that the "international crisis" of the Amazon be a priority at the G7 summit to be held this weekend in Biarritz (south-west of France). La France).

Between January and August 21, the Brazilian space observation agency INPE recorded 75,336 light bulbs in Brazil, 84% more than during the same period in 2018. This number shows an increase of 2,493 bulbs compared to Monday.

According to specialists, the increase in claims occurs in a context of rapid progress in deforestation in the Amazon, which quadrupled in July compared to the same month in 2018, according to data from the INPE.

The EU-Mercosur agreement must eliminate within 15 years 91% of Mercosur's tariffs and tariffs on European products and the EU will do the same with 92% of its own members of the EU. 10 years.

However, some European countries, including France, Poland and Ireland, have expressed concerns about the impact of these agreements on their agricultural sector. The neighbors also alerted about the consequences for the environment.