EU summit
Merz sees Mercosur agreements on the home stretch
With a view to other trade agreements in the Indopazacific region, Merz wants to quickly bring the Mercosur agreement under the roof and compartment. But Paris continues to demand corrections.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) expects the trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur states to be completed quickly. After the EU summit in Brussels, the CDU chairman said that the EU heads of state and government fundamentally agree that “the Mercosur agreement must now be passed as soon as possible”. There were still fundamental objections from none of the heads of state and government. There are only smaller open questions on individual points.
Merz emphasized that it had to go ahead quickly, “because the conclusion of the Mercosur Agreement is of course also noticed in the world”. “We are talking about further agreements, for example in the entire Indopazacific area.” A quick conclusion of the agreement also sends a signal that can be negotiated quickly with the Europeans.
Macron: Trade agreements must be fair and coherent
France’s President Emmanuel Macron countered Merz’s optimism. France cannot support the agreement in its current form, he said. “Because I think it is not in harmony with what we have been representing for years.” Although he is basically for trade agreements, these should be fair and coherent.
Macron emphasized that he did not fundamentally change the agreement, but complement it in further conversations. Protective mechanisms must contain in order to secure central areas of agriculture if the agreement should be significantly destabilized. “You cannot say: We have climate goals and ask our producers to change – and at the same time we are concluding agreements that completely contradict this,” he said.
Negotiations lasted more than 20 years
In December, the EU Commission and the South American Mercosur states of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay had completed negotiations on a huge free trade zone after more than 20 years. The agreement would create one of the world’s largest free trade zones with more than 700 million inhabitants. It provides to reduce tariffs in particular and thus boost trade. To protect EU agriculture, the markets should not be fully opened for certain agricultural products.
dpa
Source: Stern
