Why Brazil’s Lula is a bellwether for EU-Latin American relations

Good morning. The EU and Tunisia last night agreed to co-operate on curbing migration, but did not yet seal a large financial assistance package. And Russia has seized Danone’s local subsidiary and a brewer owned by Carlsberg, in the Kremlin’s latest escalation against western businesses.

Today, I explain why Brazil’s president is the man everyone will be watching at this week’s summit between EU and South American leaders, and we have news on a proposal by the European parliament to ban spying on journalists (which countries such as France would like to avoid).

You got me on my knees, Lula

More than twenty leaders from the Caribbean and Latin America descend on Brussels today for a summit with the EU’s own leaders, but one matters more than all the rest: Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Context: The first EU-CELAC summit for eight years begins today, in a bid to rebuild, restart or in some cases, resurrect Europe’s standing in the region. The leftwing Lula’s return as Brazil’s president in January was initially hailed by the EU as a great chance to get things back on track.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Lula’s “neutral” stance on the war in Ukraine, his opposition to EU-proposed environmental safeguards in the still-unsigned Mercosur trade agreement, and his warmth towards Beijing and Moscow have laid bare Brussels’ standing with the region’s linchpin state.

Spain, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, desperately wants the two-day summit to be a success (though prime minister Pedro Sánchez could be forgiven for being a little distracted with his job on the line in six days).

The pre-summit antics have not augured well. Preparatory discussions saw some Latin American nations demand the removal of a condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the draft conclusions, and tried to add a demand for European reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.

Many of the visiting leaders quite understandably roll their eyes at the recent spike in European interest in their countries, knowing that a quest to buy up their critical raw materials is the main reason.

Still, at least Lula is coming. And for many, whether it ends up a success depends on how he feels when it concludes. While a Mercosur deal is extremely unlikely, positive statements from the Brazilian bellwether on future co-operation would signal some progress for Brussels in its bid for more regional relevance — and to catch up with China.

“Latin America is not an easy partner,” the FT’s editorial board wrote last week. [But] those difficulties have not put off the Chinese . . . Next to them, Europe risks becoming sidelined.”

It may take more than just a charm offensive to change that, but it’s not a bad place to start.

Chart du jour: Bullet time

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Factories in Europe have stepped up output to replenish national ammunition stockpiles. But industry executives say that despite national pledges to increase defence spending and new procurement initiatives by both Nato and the EU, progress has been slow.

I spy

The European parliament will put forward a de facto ban on the use of spyware against journalists, as MEPs hit back at “dangerous” proposals by EU countries that would enable intrusive tech, writes Ian Johnston.

Context: The EU’s Media Freedom Act aims to protect media independence and pluralism, and ensure editorial freedom. But media groups warn that a suggested carve-out pushed by member states, led by France, to allow security services to spy on journalists will have the opposite effect.

Tomorrow, the parliament committee responsible for parliament’s take on the use of spyware will vote on its own proposal on the media rules.

According to a draft seen by the FT, MEPs want protections against spyware used to access data related to journalists’ work, including accessing information about journalists’ family members or sources.

The sections on spyware that the MEPs will probably adopt contradict the member states’ position to allow authorities to spy on journalists on national security grounds. Both parliament and the council of member states need to agree before the law can come into force.

Ramona Strugariu, the MEP from the liberal Renew group leading the negotiations, said the council’s approach was “really dangerous”. “I think that it doesn’t have anything to do with democracy and freedom of speech,” Strugariu added.

Parliament’s counterproposals will enable surveillance tech as a last resort in the investigation of serious crimes, but only if ordered by a judge and not to uncover information relating to a journalist’s professional activity.

Geoffroy Didier, a conservative MEP also responsible for the legislation, said: “There’s a risk of a clash between the parliament and the council. If the French government puts up a red line, we’ll put up a red line.”

What to watch today

1. Brazilian president Lula meets Belgian King Philippe.

2. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Gandhinagar, India.

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• Do your part: As raising climate targets becomes more and more costly, the EU wants big polluters like China to share the burden of cutting emissions.

• Finance fuel: Turkey has tripled its petrol taxes in a bid to get its disastrous-looking budget back into shape.