The European Union and the Amazon under fire: An ecological intervention?

Résumé En

The Amazon Rainforest was the subject of an unprecedented diplomatic tension especially concerning rising levels of deforestation under the mandate of the president Jair Bolsonaro. Faced with a national policy that encouraged the destruction aimed at an economic exploitation of the largest tropical forest on the planet, European Union leaders advocated for a change in Brazilian forest management, which is a national competence. Is ecological intervention an emergent norm in the international relations? An analysis of discourse of European leaders suggests potential redefinitions and understanding of ecological intervention. It suggests a heterogeneous and complex practice that instrumentalizes environmental protection to legitimize the expansion of trade, potentially perpetuating the paradigm of nature colonization. It can also suggest further an expansion of Europe(an norms), perpetuating the unequal State sovereignties that constitutes the structure of the international system, making a prevalence of its imperial character.