EU, Brazil seek dialogue on beef ban as leaders gather at G7

The European Commission is negotiating with Brazil over a ban on Brazilian beef imports scheduled to take effect in September, European Council President Antonio Costa announced on Monday. Both Costa and President Lula are attending the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, as guests. “This is a very constructive way of solving problems,” Costa remarked.

In the first four months of 2026 alone, Brazil exported 2,722 TEUs of beef to the European Union. That figure represents a 28% increase compared with the same period a year earlier. The chart below, based on Datamar data, compares the sector’s performance in recent years:

Beef Exports | European Union | Jan-Apr | 2022 – 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Shortly after the provisional start of the Mercosur-European Union trade deal in early May, the EU excluded Brazil from its list of countries permitted to export beef to the bloc. European officials stated that Brazil did not comply with the rules on antimicrobial use in livestock production.

“Obviously, there are sanitary standards that need to be respected,” said Costa, who heads the European Council, the body that brings together the EU’s heads of state and government. He stressed that the matter falls under the responsibility of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm.

Lula is expected to discuss lifting the ban on Brazilian beef exports during a potential bilateral meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday, although that meeting has not yet been confirmed.

Brazil is not a member of the G7—which comprises the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and Italy—and is attending the summit as a guest.

Lula was the first head of state to arrive at the Hotel Royal in Évian-les-Bains, a French Alpine resort town where leaders of the world’s most advanced Western economies are meeting through Wednesday amid heavy security.

Costa views Brazil’s tenth participation in a G7 leaders’ summit as a positive step. “Achieving all key international commitments needed to address global macroeconomic imbalances”—a priority for France’s G7 presidency—“and tackling issues like artificial intelligence and development partnerships require collective effort, and Brazil’s presence is essential,” he said.

Later in the day, Lula spent nearly an hour in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who hosted the summit. Sources close to the Brazilian government highlighted that Brazil did not request a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The French press reported that Trump arrived in Évian-les-Bains on Monday afternoon “at full speed.” Just hours before the summit started, the U.S. president announced, and Iranian authorities later confirmed, an agreement to end the conflict that started in late February and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In a Monday afternoon interview with French television, Macron said the immediate priority is reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but opposed the idea of a “toll” that Iranian authorities reportedly want to charge vessels passing through the strategic waterway. He argued that such a measure could set a precedent for other key maritime routes.

Macron also said that European countries, coordinated through a joint French-British mission, could deploy vessels within two or three days to remove mines placed in the strait during the conflict and restore navigation in the area.

During a meeting at the Hotel Royal shortly after his arrival, Trump told Macron in front of others that he didn’t ‘need much help” from international partners to reopen Hormuz and downplayed the offer of cooperation. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to send one or two ships,” Trump added, suggesting that French vessels could be a good option if assistance proved necessary.

The conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine are expected to dominate discussions among G7 leaders on Tuesday morning. Global economic imbalances, critical minerals, and internet regulation are also on the agenda at the summit, which runs through Wednesday.

Source: Valor International

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