EU-Mercosur deal ‘to come into force in three years’

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro yesterday said it could take up to three years for the free-trade deal agreed by the European Union and South American bloc Mercosur to come into force, as it depends on approvals by lawmakers of all countries involved.On Friday, EU and Mercosur concluded two decades of talks, committing to more open markets in the face of a rising tide of protectionism.In an interview after his arrival from a trip to G20 in Osaka, Japan, Bolsonaro added he expected the Brazilian Congress to be one of the first to approve the EU-Mercosur treaty.“(The deal) comes into force in one or three years, depending on the parliaments...Maybe ours will be one of the first to approve, I hope,” he told journalists when arriving in Brasilia.Bolsonaro called his trip to G20 a “mission accomplished”, attributing the success to the fact that his ministers were chosen for technical reasons.Since he took office on January 1, his government has been struggling to get Congress to pass a bill to overhaul of Brazil’s social security system, shore up public finance and stimulate investment and economic growth.His remarks came as hundreds rallied in various cities across Brazil yesterday in favour of the pension reform, the “Car Wash” corruption investigation, as well as Justice Minister Sergio Moro.Moro, who as judge led the corruption trial that jailed former Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was caught in a scandal after leaked personal messages showed he advised prosecutors to influence public opinion against the leftist leader.In Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of people gathered around Copacabana Beach, with some carrying Brazilian flags and others placards saying “In Moro We Trust”. Asked about the demonstrations, Bolsonaro only said that “people have the right to demonstrate”.Moro is considered a hero by many Brazilians fed up with corrupt leaders.Moro has questioned the authenticity of the leaked chats and dismissed claims that he had been biased in the Car Wash cases.He recently told a Senate committee that he had been the victim of “revenge” over his anti-corruption efforts.No one has been untouchable in the Car Wash probe, which began in 2014 and upended Brazilian politics by uncovering large-scale looting of state oil company Petrobras.Scores of top players across the political spectrum as well as business figures have been taken down.But critics say Moro — who handed Lula his first conviction for taking bribes and money laundering in 2017, effectively ending both his election hopes and decades of centre-left rule in Brazil — targeted the former president and his popular Workers’ Party (PT) most of all.The Supreme Court last week postponed debate on whether Moro had been impartial.Lula, who led Brazil through a historic boom from 2003 to 2010, has denied all the corruption charges against him.He has long argued they were politically motivated to prevent him from competing in the 2018 election that was ultimately won by Bolsonaro.