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THE RELEVANCE OF THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON FOR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRAZIL AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

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Abstract

There is plentiful scientific literature about the importance of the Amazon Forest to climate regulation and biological diversity drawing from analytical frameworks such as the Anthropocene, “planetary boundaries” and “Earth System Governance”. In the Brazilian case, the forest is part of the Legal Amazon region, which comprises other biomes also threatened by the recent and predatory expansion of the agricultural frontiers, as well as other illegal activities. They violate the rights of more than thirty-eight million local inhabitants, especially indigenous communities (Fellows et al, 2023).

 

In this context, we raise the question: how is the Legal Amazon important for the relationship between Brasilia and Brussels? We contend Brazilians keep the national approach on the Legal Amazon, while the Europeans have a more global view, but focusing on the forest. From an international political economy perspective, the two tipping points chosen were the signature of the trade agreement between the European Union (EU)  and Brazil in 2019, and the European Regulation on Deforestation-free products of 2022. In this context of valorization of the standing forest and the ecosystem services it provides, this article aims to analyse the relevance of the Legal Amazon to the relationship between the EU and Brazil, based on the concept of “deforestation-free value chains”, which is the basis of the most recent European regulations within the Green Deal.

 

The method consists of the analysis of official documents and data from the EU and Brazil, as well as recent scientific literature in international law and international relations. Our main premise is that the EU has been playing the role of exporter of rules (norm-maker) to promote the bloc’s trade and environmental interests. Also, the EU acts to influence decision-making processes within multilateral negotiations (norm-shaper). Concerning the forest, two telling examples are the climate change and biodiversity regimes. However, the promotion of European interests engenders profound divergences from Brazilian interests. Therefore, the political stands of both sides explain the very long negotiations that led to the 2019 trade agreement. Likewise, divergences have marked the unfolding of the climate change regime after the Paris Agreement, and the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022. In the same vein, the 2022 deforestation ban will bring new challenges to the relationship between Brazil and the EU.

 

The main findings are that the forest is of the utmost importance because there is a clear connection between the European acknowledgment of its role as a consumer of commodities that sustain deforestation around the world and the Brazilian failure to effectively fight deforestation, notably in the last four years, under President Bolsonaro.

 

Finally, we conclude that Brussels has taken extremely ambitious but necessary steps to fight deforestation trends. In this sense, the relationship between Brazil and the EU is strongly marked by the trade-environmental agenda, having the Amazon Forest at its core. The EU has been imposing new patterns of traceability and sustainability on third countries. While the EU plays the role of norm-maker and exporter, Brazil is challenged by the condition of ending deforestation to maintain access to the European market. Although both actors have some colliding views and preferences, there are opportunities to build a better strategic partnership, based on global sustainability priorities now.

 

Keywords: Deforestation-free value chains. Legal Amazon. EU. Brazil.

Author Biographies

Johanne Døhlie Saltnes, University of Oslo. Post Doctoral Fellow (ARENA Centre for European Studies)

Johanne Døhlie Saltnes is associate researcher at the University of Brasilia, Institute for international relation (IREL). Saltnes is a former postdoc (2019-2020), researcher (2017-2019) and and PhD (2013-2017) at ARENA where she contributed to the projects «GLOBUS - Reconsidering European Contributions to Global Justice» and «LEGOF - The legitimacy of EU foreign and security policy in the age of global contestation». She defended her dissertation in May 2019. 

Saltnes is currently affiliated with ARENA’s EU3D and NORMS projects. 

Ana Flávia Granja e Barros, UnB, Brasilia Research Centre for Earth System Governance e Escola Superior de Defesa

Associate professor at the International Relations Institute, University of Brasilia, Brazil. Researcher at the Superior Defence College, Brasilia, Brazil. Director of the Brasilia Research Centre from the Earth System Governance network (Utrecht University, Holland).  Researcher at the Centro de Estudos Globais at the  International Relations Institute, University of Brasilia. Research topics: complexity thinking, global governance, United Nations, ocean and polar governance, Anthropocene and planetary politics. She also works on Brazilian environmental laws and policies. With Professor Carina Oliveira, she organized the book Conservation of Living Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: BBNJ and Antarctica in 2020. PhD degree in International Relations from the Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), 2000.

Niels Søndergaard, Instituto de Relações Internacionais. Universidade de Brasília

International Relations Professor at the University of Brasilia (IREL). A former researcher at Insper Agro Global.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8727-7912

Ph.D. and Post-doctoral studies at the International Relations Institute at the University of Brasilia (IREL). Master in Global Studies - Lund University (2014). Bachelor in Global Studies - Roskilde Universitet (2011). 

 

Published

2024-06-18

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Dossiê Desenvolvimento Sustentável na Europa e no MERCOSUL