EU-Mercosur trade deal ‘within reach’, says von der Leyen

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Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, during the EU and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit in Brussels on Monday. Photograph: Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg The EU and the Mercosur bloc of South American economies hope to finalise a long-delayed trade deal this year, leaders on both sides said, though it remained unclear how officials would resolve significant differences over environmental safeguards. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, the biggest of the four Mercosur members, said on Monday that a “balanced deal” would “open new horizons” –...